Essay 4-Argument Essay

Playing With Our Minds Everyone has seen advertisement on TV. We see it, it registers into our brains and then we do or do not do something about it. I, like many people in the world, fall into the group of I want everything I see on TV. I think it is horrible that I let advertisement take the place of what I should really feel. From the apartment I rent to the car I drive, it feels like I am not good enough to please anyone or myself. Due to my strong negative feelings towards advertisement, I believe that no one should have any influence on one’s psyche. Dr. Kanner made very strong arguments in his paper regarding how advertisement plays with people’s emotions and minds; from using GPS system to Google and finding out what people are searching and then putting advertisement to try to sell them things. “Using Built-in links to the global positioning system(GPS), smart-phones such as the iPhone and Blackberry can now track individuals down to the street corner on which they stand” (par. 3). Dr. Kanner also argues that because of the advertisement that people are shown every day, it changes their buying habits because their emotions are distorted. People are told how they should feel and what to do with those feelings. “ By exposing people to thousands of such exquisitely personalized ads, corporate marketing could surreptitiously mold the most meaningful episodes of our lives” (par. 13). Mr. O’Reilly made his argument through a sales person’s point of view. He believes that we as consumers owe the advertisement companies the time to sit and watch their commercials because that is our unwritten side of the contract or deal. Since we get to watch our favorite shows, and the shows need money to operate, it is our responsibility to the industry as a whole to watch their advertisement and then buy their products. “ That’s the basis of the Great Unwritten Contract. The ads underwrite the programs or content you love, you sit through the

Cited: Kanner, Allen. “The Piracy of Privacy: Why Marketers Must Bare Our Souls.” Models for Writers. 11thed. Ed. Alfred Rosa and Paul Eschholz. Boston: Bedford, 2012. 587-593. O’Reilly, Terry. “ Marketing Ate Our Culture-But It Doesn’t Have To.” Models for Writers. 11th ed. Ed. Alfred Rosa and Paul Eschholz. Boston: Bedford, 2012. 594-601.