How Does Advertising Negatively Affected America?

A world without television is virtually impossible for many American’s to imagine. Television has effected the lives of many Americans since 1927, the year Philo Taylor Farnsworth invented the television. Although television has effected America positively in several ways, advertising has negatively effected America throughout history. McClure et al.(2013) asserted that adolescents see approximately seventeen advertisements per day, and they have excessive receptivity to the media’s advertising tactics (p. 550). In addition to adolescents receptivity to advertising, children’s health has been drastically impacted by media since the early 1960’s. At this time the majority of households owned a television and watched it frequently. Chou, Rashad, and Grossman (2008) found that American adolescent's body mass index increased 4% throughout the same timeline. Contrary to popular belief, Chou, Rashad, and Grossman
Patti Miller (2011) asserts that these tactics are inappropriate and effect the health and nutrition of American children. Miller proves that children see a majority of advertisements that are directed towards unhealthy eating habits. Companies use a “better for you” tactic in attempt to convince children that the food must be nutritious. In addition to the “better for you” tactic, advertisers display unhealthy food as fun or trendy (p.69). Miller also refers to these advertising tactics as the uncontrolled and “fastest growing cause of disease and death in America” (p.70). Not only is this advertisement not adequately regulated, but recent history reveals that due to this advertising children could possibly live shorter lives than their parents (p. 70). Overall, Patti Miller asserts that media forces adolescents to prefer unhealthy food; therefore, Miller supports that television advertisement is perhaps the greatest cause of