Advertising and Fosters Free Trade

Advertising has fierce critics as well as staunch advocates. Critics claim that advertisement is propaganda, while advocates counter that advertising fosters free trade and promotes prosperity. I believe advertising has both positive and negative effects. The United States as a country reflects how advertising affects us. While in some cases, yes, advertisement is great, there are some cases where it has destroyed lives. The promotion of cigarettes is a prime example of bad advertisement. “It promoted the continued social acceptability of smoking and encouraged the incorrect belief that the majority of people smoke.” (Shaw) The good cases of advertisement are when it’s used for teaching, because “at its most basic form advertising is teaching.” (Culpa) Everywhere around us there is advertising. Whether it is good or bad, it has an effect on us as a society. When teachers put up posters or even maps, they are advertisements; we just do not realize it. Advertisement has had some bad effects on our society as well. Advertisement “can reinforce racial, cultural, and sexual stereotypes. It can make us unsatisfied with who we are.” (Day) I fee; as if this is such a true and strong statement. I mean, how many people do you know that if they see something on television or saw their favorite celebrity wearing it, they automatically want it ten times more than if they had seen it in the store? Also how many times have you been watching television and saw a super model and just thought “if only I looked like her then everything would be perfect?” I know I have had those same exact thoughts before. And you think that every time you see that commercial, billboard, or poster. It just never goes away, and the same though just keeps getting hammered in your brain and you start to truly think you are worthless. All advertisement agencies try to use all available methods to obtain your attention so you will buy or use their products, even if the advertisement and product are