Advertising

Children: A Good Target Market or An Abuse of Innocence? Advertising is a way many businesses attract consumers. Consumers are, after all, their source of income. Billions of dollars are spent every year by corporations to huge advertising companies to think of the next big commodity. However, the most attractive target market today is children, which inevitably sparks controversy throughout the country.

When discussing advertising to children, one should highly consider how the effects the products being advertised pose to children, the status of our countries laws, and the current uses of child advertising and the effect they may have on their audience because we need to think of the children first in order to protect our country’s youth. Many businesses have made the arguable decision in marketing towards children. If the venture is done the right way, it can be a successful form of getting attention to a business.

In the article “Brand loyalty starts from a very early age,” Lou Cooper reveals, “Influencing children at a young age could see them retain their custom in the future” (24). However, if done incorrectly or unethically, youth advertising can be very dangerous and influential to a child in the wrong way. More and more manufacturers and television advertisers think that children constitute an important group for their target market. They see other businesses succeeding when they use the tactic and they believe they need to use it too so as to remain competitive in the industry.

However, television advertising aimed at children is extremely harmful to child development. Over the last few decades, television advertising has changed people’s life styles and buying habits, especially children. Children have larger spending power. With the additional reassurance from statistics and research, more and more manufacturers and advertisers think that a young age group is an important group for their target market.

However, television advertising aimed at children is extremely harmful to child development because of the many harmful and unhealthy things the television is portraying as acceptable and even going so far as to making a harmful product sound attractive and necessary to a young consumer. Television aids the alcohol industry, as well as the fast food industry in spreading the word of their harmful products. The fast food industry is especially taking advantage of their marketing ability, and consumers are paying the price for it, with their health.

According to the film Super Size Me, over the past few years, there has been a doubling of childhood and adult diabetes. Also, in the film Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock provides the information that more children are having liver abnormalities and are already showing signs of cirrhosis, a clinical scaring of the liver. As stunningly accurate as in Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser mentions, “But the value meals, two-for-one deals, and free refills of soda give a distorted sense of how much fast food actually costs.

The real price never appears on the menu” (9). Thus, the harmful products shown on TV should be highly monitored and perhaps even forced laws upon certain ads to protect the public. The founding laws of our nation have worked for us for centuries. They protect us when is necessary and allow us freedoms when appropriate. Legislators have been able to protect us very well with the constant updating of our laws. Through amendments and many new laws, law makers have been able to stay current with issues at hand.

However, because our country’s laws haven’t taken another modern twist, many children are feeling the consequences. As seen in The United States Bill of Rights, the first amendment to the Constitution is “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press” (US Const. , amd. 1) When creating the law, however, legislators in the revolutionary time period surely didn’t suspect that the safety of children would be at stake when they wrote such a broad and vague concept.

The legislation for advertising to children is minimal, and most advertising companies have free reign to do whatever they want. When a commercial is geared toward children, they find it appealing and some almost comforting. Fast Food Nation’s Eric Schlosser expressed that children are exposed to “30,000 commercials a year. ” Congress has passed laws in the past about setting regulations for the advertising of cigarettes and alternative means of marketing because of their extremely harmful and negative side effects they threaten consumers with.

Certain means of advertising in movie theaters was reviewed and banned; Truthful advertisements are being forced on to cigarette companies. Advertisements in movie theaters would show pictures of a random place and quickly show a flash of a product so people in the audience would need to have it. For example, they would show a large desert and then quickly show a Coke, and a person sitting in the audience would stand up and need to buy the Coke, almost as if they were brainwashed.

Cigarette companies are now forced to put pictures of diseased organs on the box of cigarettes so as to warn the public of their unhealthy and dangerous aftermath and hopefully thwart as many Americans smoking as possible, a much different form of advertising than an advertisement for Paul Mall cigarettes depicting cigarettes to “Guard against throat-scratch. ” When children are exposed to such stimulation of such appealing products, According to Lou Cooper, they have the influence over their parents to utilize close to “1. 88 trillion dollars”, which of course makes children a hefty target, but at what cost? Cooper 24). Advertisers use many forms of marketing to charm children. Phrases and slogans are one example. Many types of food have a phrase associated with them. Commercials use phrases and slogans to embed their product into an audience’s memory. By the time the commercial ends the line and product are stuck in a person’s mind. By targeting children, whole families are then targeted. Competition sparks the creation of phrases and slogans so as to imprint that brand into the minds of consumers. If one company can create a phrase that everyone will know and remember, they are one step ahead of their competition.

Characters are also a way used to target children. Making characters has been the way in which many companies capture the attention of children everywhere. When a child sees commercials on television, the characters are instantly installed in their brain. Prominent figures also bring forth an ethical appeal for children; for example, in Lucky Strike advertisement, Santa Claus is shown with his bag of toys in one hand and a cigarette in the other. When the child witnesses such extreme behavior from the ones they hold dear, they want to be just like the people they admire.

Therefore, children are more likely to buy a product used by their favorite celebrity or character. Toys are another way in which companies target children. Companies give toys to children sometimes relating to their product to endorse their item and entice the recipient to the merchandise. The hope some companies have is that the child will associate their brand with a reward such as a toy and want it more because of the attraction. For example, cereal companies are famous for toy advertisements. If they put toys in the boxes of cereal, children are more likely to want the box with a toy in it.

Pleasing children is a main concern for all big companies. In closing, advertising to children isn’t the best idea when you want to keep the youth of our country safe, healthy, and uncorrupt so as to brighten our future as a nation. The products of some endorsements are mainly those that need to be feared. However, when a child is just as innocent as watching their favorite television show, parents and the children themselves shouldn’t need to worry about what kind of commercials pop-up that try to entice them with that happy meal and those toys.

Children deserve every right to enjoy their time of being care-free and trusting. Childhood is a time for joyful bliss and innocence, not corruption. Works Cited Cooper, Lou. “Brand Loyalty Starts from a Very Early Age. ” EBSCO Publishing Service Selection Page. Marketing Week, 10 June 2010. Web. 02 Nov. 2010 ;http:web. ebscohost. com/src/pdf? vid=3;hid=104;sid=725b5696-c4ed-46ed-b519-2fl6cbd64173@sessionmgr112;. “The United States Bill of Rights. ” National Archives and Records Administration. U. S. National Archives ; Records Administration.

Web. 02. Nov. 2011. ;http://www. archives. gov/exhibits/characters/print_friendly. html? page=bill_of_rights_transcript_content. html;. Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: the Dark Side of the All-American Meal. New York, NY: Harper Perennial, 2005. Print. Supersize Me: a Film of Epic Proportions [video Recording]. Hart Sharp Video, 2004. “Santa Smokes Lucky Strikes! ” Quit Smoking Painlessly Now! Web. 02 Nov. 2010. ;http://www. quitsmokingpainlesslynow. com/cigarette-advertising/santa-smoking-lucky-strikes/;.

The commercial growth of the live music events industry “Live music events have grown into global events, give five reasons as to what has driven their commercial growth and success” By Anjes Kuypers LT1059 The Service Sector Industries Module Tutor: Abu Naser Word Count: 1499 Introduction In the past few decades there have been many developments in the live music events industry, which have led to live music events growing to be global events. (Goldblatt, J. 2002) There are several reasons for this development in the music events industry, many of them closely connected to developments in other sectors that influence the business of live music events. In this essay we will discuss the commercial, social, legal, technological and environmental factors that have contributed to the commercial growth and success of the events industry that has resulted in this industry to become a global one, producing events on a much bigger scale than before.

Global live music events are now a common phenomenon producing billions of pounds in revenue and many industries outside the direct business of music events want to be involved to get a share in this major success. Books, articles, websites, reports and a few films have been the main resources for information for an essay on this subject, and to determine how music events have become global events. Commercial Events have always been organised for commercial purposes in many sectors of the economy. One of the recent developments in the live music events usiness is that music events have become a big part of marketing strategy for many companies in almost every sector of the business industry. Companies have tried to transform advertisement into real life experiences that relate to their product or company, which makes it easier for the clients to connect to the company. (Allen, J. , 2006) Not only are companies organising music events to promote their businesses or their products themselves but they are also connecting their image to music events by sponsoring big events such as concerts and festivals to advertise and create a certain image. Ali-Knight et al, 2004) Sponsorship deals are crucial for music events, “We have 5% of our budget from the public purse, 70% of our budget from ticket sales, but without the money from Sky and Emirates and The Guardian then we’d be stuffed. ” (Florence, P. , 2008) This development is a direct reason for live music events to become global events because it creates a bigger budget and possibly a wider variety of public depending on the nature of the sponsoring businesses. Social A shift in the social composition of people who visit music events is one of the reasons for the commercial growth of live music events.

Music events were originally created as a way to entertain young people and this created an image that suggested that only teenagers and adolescents could go to and enjoy live music events. But in the past few years this image has changed and promoters have widened their range of public and even designed music events especially to attract a public of all ages. This has everything to do with the idea of being an “eternal teenager”, people who grew up with live music events still want to go. This is the first time we’ve had this generation who are traditionally time and cash rich, this is the first time we’ve had a generation in this segment who have grown up with rock and roll. ” (Cope, R. , 2008) For more success in the business organisers also present events with a certain theme or represent a certain ethical standpoint. (Goldblatt J. , 2007) The major success of this concept is proven by many successful fundraising events for charity, green events or events confined to a certain music genre.

This does not only attract attention of an entirely new public to the live music events business but has also provoked political involvement in these events. For example, the popularity of pop/rock music events, which have produced the best performance during the past five years, is mainly due to its broad appeal because they tend to appeal to an older than normal demographic. (Mintel, 2010) Also charity events have increased the global involvement in music events and have attracted not only a wider variety of public but also political involvement.

Because of this, live music events have been able to attract a much bigger variety of public, which has enabled the business to create global music events that are not focused on a particular segment of people but attract people of all ages and social backgrounds. (Bennett, A. , 2001) Legal As a result of commercial success and growth in the live music events business legal involvement has over the years become necessary and this means involvement of an entire business that has contributed to the growth of the music events industry in many ways.

According to D. Becker (2006) the growth in commercial value and the increase of complexity of live music events have increased the need to record arrangements in writing and have made the legal rights and obligations of the parties involved more complex. This has led to the legal business becoming a big part of the live music business because especially with global music events so many parties are involved and thus so many legal involvement has become necessary.

In this day and age where digitalization has influenced the music business so severely, new legislation is introduced every year to update the copyright code (Bargfrede and Mak, 2009) and this has directly and indirectly influenced the legal involvement in live music events. Also legislation concerning music events has changed over the years, the rules on for example alcohol distribution, drug-use, the Licensing Act of 2003, and most currently the smoking-ban have influenced the live music industry in both positive and negative ways.

But it has increased the involvement and influence of the law on the live music events business and added value to the industry. Environmental Because of commercial growth and success of global events environmental possibilities are enormous. Venues are built especially for global events and designed for extraordinary amounts of people and live broadcasting possibilities. For example the New Wembley in London, completed in 2007 is one of many venues produced for mass consumption. Operated by Wembley National Stadium Limited, a fully owned subsidiary of The Football Association, the new stadium offers up to 90,000 fans the opportunity to watch world-class events with unrivalled views of the action in state-of-the-art facilities. ” (Wembley Stadium website) This is only one of many examples of venues designed to accommodate global events, due to technological developments the environmental possibilities for live music events are endless.

From music events in the middle of the desert to events on top of the Himalaya Mountains, anything is possible. (Goldblatt, J. , 2007) This has once again increased the variety of people interested in and involved in live music events, there are options for all ages, backgrounds and different areas of interest. Technological Developments in the technological area are probably one of the most important of reasons for live music events to become global events.

In the past two decades technology has evolved beyond our imagination, we live in a science-fiction-like world where a mobile phone can do more than a computer ten years ago. (Kumar, V. , 2006) This has had many consequences, amongst others a huge impact on the live music industry. Live broadcasting, events taking place in different places in the word, global involvement, communication possibilities and easier access to live music events all over the world are only a few examples of the wide range of possibilities we have these days.

A live music event can now be accessed from TV’s, radio’s, computers, iPads or even phones from anywhere in the world. (Kumar, V. , 2006) This technological development is a direct reason for live music events to turn into global events. Also live music events are the only area of the music industry that has not been affected by the digitalization of music. We can legally or illegally download or stream music for free but the experience of being present at a live music event has not yet been replaced by some digital form of replacement. (Katz, M. 2004) This means that live music events have become more important for artists and record companies as a source of income. Their focus has shifted from album sales and copyright income to concerts, festivals and other live music events. Conclusion The immense growth of the live music events industry has reasons related to many subjects. Changes in commercial involvement, social interest, legal developments, environmental possibilities, and technological breakthroughs are amongst many other reasons for the commercial success in this industry the past few decades.

The world is changing and evolving so quickly and our possibilities become greater and greater and the live music industry has tried hard to take advantage of these developments and use them to their advantage, which has enabled the business to become a global one and create global music events. Although economic, technologic, legal, commercial, environmental, political and cultural factors have influenced this process; the most important reason for this development is that music appeals to almost everyone, which has enabled this industry to become so successful.

Reference list * Ali-Knight, J. , Drummond, S. , McMahon-Beattie, U. , Robertson, M. , Yeoman, I. , (2004) festivals and events management, an international arts and culture perspective, Elsevier Ltd, Oxford * Allen, J. , Bowdin, G. , Harris, R. , McDonnell, I. , O’Toole, W. , (2006), Events Management (2nd edn), Elsevier Ltd, Oxford * Becker, D. , (2006), The essential legal guide to events, Dynamic Publishing Limited * Bennett, A. , (2001) Cultures of Popular Music, Open University Press, Buckingham * Bradley, P. (2008), UK festival fever on the increase, BBC Money Programme, [online] Available at: http://news. bbc. co. uk/1/hi/business/7499708. stm [accessed 11 January, 2011] * Goldblatt J. , (2007) Special events: the roots and wings of celebration, Wiley & Sons, New York * Goldblatt, J. , (2002), Special Events: twenty-first century global event management. , 3rd edition, Wiley, New York * Katz, M. , (2004), Capturing Sound, how technology has changed music, University of California Press Ltd, London * Legislation. gov. uk [Online] Available at http://www. egislation. gov. uk/ukpga/2003/17/introduction [Accessed 12 Januari 2011] * Music concerts and festivals –UK- Mintel (2010) [accessed 29 October 2010] * Wembley Stadium website: http://www. wembleystadium. com/about/WembleyStadium/ [accessed 11 January 2011] ——————————————– [ 1 ]. “An Act to make provision about the regulation of the sale and supply of alcohol, the provision of entertainment and the provision of late night refreshment, about offences relating to alcohol and for connected purposes. ” (Licensing. gov. uk, 2003)

Adverts have been used for centuries and are an effective way of drawing consumers to products. The main aims for a advert are to catch a potential consumers attention and then to sell the product to the potential consumer. Adverts have changed a lot since the nineteenth century the ‘Pears soap’ adverts, technology has improved greatly and the audiences for adverts have changed too. However the generic conventions of adverts have remained similar throughout time. The ‘Pears soap’ adverts look very simple compared to today’s adverts but they all do contain hidden messages for the audience to pick up on. This essay is going to compare two adverts, which are the adverts for the ‘Samsung P400’ mobile phone and ‘Horlicks’ hot drink.

The ‘Samsung’ advert is aimed at a wide range of people, but particularly younger more trendy and energetic females. This can be seen because the lady that is in the picture is quite young and by looking at what she is where it can be assumed that she is quite trendy and fashionable. This advert addresses the need of having to look good and have the best accessories, this will make it appeal to women because they are more image conscience and generally take more trouble about their appearance. The position that the woman is standing in isn’t natural and does look like it has a lot of energy and fun in it, this will make younger people want this phone.

The ‘Horlicks’ advert is aimed at older people and probably people who are in long term relationships. It is for older people because it is set in a bedroom and teenager generally don’t share bedrooms, and for people in relationships or want to be in relationships because the two pairs of feet look very cosy and they could even be seen a phallic. The need to be have satisfaction is being addressed here, whether it is the satisfaction of a good nights sleep or something less innocent is up to the audience to decide for themselves. The audiences for these two adverts are very different and the advertisers use different methods to catch the attention of their audiences.

The lady is representing the phone and the phone the lady, in the ‘Samsung’ advert. The lady is striking a pose similar to the way in which the phone has been left, as the lady is striking this pose she is representing that the phone is just as flexible as she is, she is young and normally is it expected for young people to be flexible. The phone is representing the women because it has her face on the screen and is being used to say that the phone is just a smart, sophisticated and fun as the lady. The connotation made from this advert is that the phone is almost a person it is doing as the lady does and because of that is it like the lady and can do what the lady can do – it is smart and technologically advanced.

The ‘Horlicks’ advert uses the audience’s imagination to make ‘Horlicks’ seem sexier than it is. The word ‘fulfilment in the bedroom at last’ have double meanings, the advert is claiming that it means a good nights sleep at last but sexual imagery is being represented by the image of the feet and the text. It is only apparent that the advert is not sexual when the small print is read. The connotation is that the ‘Horlicks’ will make you sleep better. Both adverts have hidden meaning, connotations, that aren’t apparent at first, however the phone adverts connotation is just boasting more about the product, while the ‘Horlicks’ connotation is the actual meaning of the advert.

The ideas that are being presented in the ‘Samsung’ advert are that young women are fun, smart, flexible and sophisticated. These ideas are generally thought of in society and the advert has used these general views on young women to save them from having to write out a lot of words, the audience knows what young women are generally like and can see why the women has been used sub-consciencely.

The next advertisement that I am going to write about is one that is attempting to sell a product called “The Health Bracelet”, This product is said to help people who are suffering from different health problems, the advertisement contains many small pictures but is swamped with text, but the text featured on the advertisement is all positive feedback from past recipients of the bracelet, each paragraph is a statement from one of the “many” people who have already tried and tested the product.

This advertisement is aimed again at an older generation of people who have medical problems like insomnia and pains that are felt in a persons leg, shoulder, hands etc. There text one the advertisement is very detailed and at some points the advertisers use pseudo scientific wording to confuse readers and make the reader believe that this is a good thing and that the product works in a different way to every other similar products in the market.

The layout that the advertisers have chosen to use when making this advertisement is one that suits their objective of selling a product with proof that the product does actually work, but by using so much text on this page the advertisers do risk the chance that the reader will see the advertisement and be intimidated by the amount of script and therefore not attempt to read what is written in the advertisement and therefore will never know what the “health bracelet” actually does or what it even is.

There are several different illustrations featured on this page, each of the people who have tried the “bracelet” and are happy with its results. There is also a picture of an old couple who are modelling the bracelet, the people pictured are shown to seem to be happy with their lives and by wearing the bracelets seem to be showing that it is helping them to live a pain free life.

The colours that are used on this page are similar to the first advertisement that I wrote about, the page contains the colour red but for this advertisement the colour red Is only used as a background colour instead of meaning danger, the main background colour used is a light shade of violet which is easier on a persons eyes than white would be for this amount of reading.

The advertisement is a full page spread near to the back of the magazine cleverly positioned before the crossword, which is also known to be enjoyed by the elderly. Near to the bottom of the page there is a single paragraph that explains how the bracelet works using scientific language, for example “an electro magnetic force” which is claimed to be supplied to “your blood flow” also written into the paragraph is a part that claims a high success rate and that the bracelet is completely harmless.

This advert is completely made up of text despite there being many pictures on the page meaning that there is a low chance of people who are of a young age reading this advertisement and more than likely will not buy this product at all, the company has obviously realised this and set out to only sell to the elderly and those who feel constant pain. Advertisement 4

The fourth and final advertisement that I am going to write about is an advertisement that has been placed in a newspaper, the advert is one for Specsavers opticians, The advertisements one which is attempting to sell reactions lens’ to the public, this advert contains both pictures and text but unlike any of my previous advertisements it has a voucher/coupon positioned at the bottom, which can be used for a free eye test at any Specsavers opticians. This advertisement also unlike my previous advertisements does not take up a full page.

The advertisement is a simple design with a picture featured above the text so that any readers that view this advertisement are caught by the large picture then can choose whether or not to read on, the people who are most likely not to look twice at this advertisement are the young and also those who do not need to use glasses as a result of perfect sight. I personally did not look at this advertisement more than once because it does not appeal to me because of the reasons I have outlined above.

Layout/Presentation The layout the advertisers have used is one that is seen to drag in a reader and keep the reader interested and possibly purchase the product. The advertisement does not contain much text, more than likely because the company feels that people will become bored and turn over the page completely ignoring what is featured in the advertisement, meaning that less people will be aware of the products for sale at Specsavers opticians and they will inevitably sell less of the product advertised.

The advertisement uses the background colour of the actual newspaper so as to blend in with the newspaper itself, the text is, as I have noticed throughout this coursework project to be normal, is black in colour with the exception of the text imposed onto the picture which is white. The only other part of the advertisement that is a different colour is the logo for the company which is green.

The illustration/picture which has been featured in the advertisement is of what seems to be a barometer which shows how reactions lenses work and how quickly they react to changes in the weather, the picture takes up around 50% of the advertisement (the rest is used for text and a voucher). The picture is positioned closely to the centre of the page and is the largest feature on the page. The advertisement takes up the most space on the page taking up more space alone than the other features on the page.

The use of colour on this advertisement is cleverly the same as the colours that the reactions lenses change from one to the other, whether the advertisers considered this while choosing a colour scheme for the advertisement is unknown to me. The advertisement to me seems to be set on the page to catch the attention of a reader so that they notice the advertisement and consider the product that is featured on it.

Content

What is said in the advertisement is the price that each pair of glasses cost’s, a small bit of text explaining how the lenses react to the different weather conditions and also how it takes the lenses just “30 seconds” to change and protect the users eyes more than normal glasses. At the bottom of the advertisement is a voucher which claims a free eye test for the reader but in smaller text, which is often not read by most people, explains that to claim the offer properly the reader must purchase a “complete pair of glasses”.

So to conclude, this advertisement is an even mix of both text and pictures, the advertisement takes up a smaller amount of space then all other advertisements that I have chosen to write about, I personally do not like this advertisement because it uses a voucher to help to sell products but has small text to in a way trick the reader.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall Indonesia’s advertising Industry which is one of the youngest in the region, is almost at its adolescence trying to come to terms with all the rapid changes that it faces as it comes of age to find its own well defined personality and identity. A philosopher rightly said about life “We see life not as it is but as we are”. This seems so true in advertising too. Advertising should draw upon people’s emotions in order to strike an emotional relationship with their audiences. It is said that advertising is suppose to reflect society.

This means that advertising should be representative of the society’s cultures and values in which it occurs. Advertising should also be representative of genuine situations within its society. And for the audiences who wish to see their own reflection, the advertising that depends on drawing from international campaigns has no role to play. Trend however in most similar advertising markets is that it takes a while before a country comes out of the shadows of western advertising and put its own stamp of style on the world advertising map.

Japan, Singapore and Thailand have done it in the past from Asia. India is one of the latest countries that have started developing their unique advertising style. Is finding a country’s unique tone in advertising just another way to stroke creative egos in an industry full of Ego maniacs? Not really. The biggest advantage of this phenomenon is that it pushes up the overall creative quality since the advertising starts working at a different level for the audience.

It also improves the acceptance of path breaking creative work by the marketers because they start believing in creativity looking at the success of some bold creative work. The creative becomes more bold instigating tougher competition in the industry as a result of which the bar goes higher for creative standard and everyone benefits. The changes in Indonesian advertising, as the readers can see in the displayed samples where the ads have a distinct Indonesian tone, have started showing in Public Service campaigns and some specific product ategories leading to creation of some most memorable and impactful campaigns. This, as I see is the onset of a new era in Indonesian advertising. An era when a consumer peeps into the mirror of Indonesian advertising and utters the magic words ‘Mirror, mirror on the wall…’ he sees nothing but reflection of his own self. Abhay Kapoor The writer is the Group Managing Director With one of the biggest Indonesian communication Groups, DM Pratama Group.

Lying and use of fictions in day-to-day adverts has become more persistent in the contemporary society. False advertisement, therefore, refers to the use of misleading and typically unproven information regarded as false, to advertise a product or a service to customers. It also involves the exposing of untrue stories about someone, a product or a service.

Such advert does not disclose the sources of information but is basically meant to persuade customers on the benefits of particular products or services. A false advertisement not only provides inaccurate information about something, however, it also omits information which it should contain (Goldman 487).

This research paper, therefore, seeks to examine lies and false adverts in their immediate context and their possible effects. Whether on a national television or the local newspaper, the information conveyed by any advertisement must uphold the truth. In recent times, lies and false advertisements have been used extensively by a business enterprise through their sales agents and politicians.

Business companies have always engaged in competition for customers. As result, they have conducted frequent business promotions tailored towards increasing their market share. Persuading customers is also about changing their attitudes and capturing their attention towards the products being promoted.

It involves conveying of information concerning the health benefits of using a certain product as opposed to their substitutes. Consequently, to increase their sales, sellers have over a long time used exaggerations based on their products and services. They have misled customers using their untrue information on their advertisements on health benefits.

In businesses, there are numerous instances under which false adverts has ever occurred. An advert is considered deceptive if it deliberately misleads its intended customers. Among the several deceptions include snapshot retouching, the omission of information, hidden fees and charges, misleading health claims, as well as oversized packaging of products among others (Bevier 25).

To begin with, photographic retouching is a false advertisement used in the cosmetic industry besides the weight loss businesses. They depict false unattainable results to consumers and give a false impression of the cosmetic product’s factual capabilities. This is intended to help such businesses attain a higher competitive advantage over their competitors since their false impression has fully captured their customers’ perceptions regarding the effectiveness of such products compared to those of their competitors without the photo retouch.

The second instance is the omission of information. Failure to include any relevant information about a product is a misleading attempt to the customers. A more relevant example is that of a television advert on prescribed drugs which may precisely fulfill the requirements of the regulations by showing a side-effect at the end of the advert.

Hidden fees and charges is another strategy used by most companies to trick customer who might end up paying an excess fee on the advertised products as opposed to the actual price of the item or service unknowingly. It is commonly used in taxation levies, insurance, and shipping fee.

A good example is the online selling of a product, where the delivery cost is hidden to make the product cheaper to customers. On health claim advertisements, certain words such as cholesterol-free, low sugar and fat levels, vitamins available, chemical-free product etc. in certain manufactured products may not be true but are only meant to convince the customers on the health benefits of a product, although, in reality, such allegations are not based on facts since they have no source of evidence.

They are only meant to attract customers. On the other hand, politics has also formed the grounds of lies and dishonesty in many occasions since politicians have been lying to their followers during their election campaigns along the streets that they are the best. Based on their policies, they have always promised their followers many that they end up not fulfilling, rendering their promises untrue. This has built mistrust between the politician and their followers.

Campaign advertisements holding untrue information have always been broadcasted on televisions and printed in local newspapers so that citizens can read and change their attitudes towards such politicians and vote them in.However, the use of false advertising to gain customers is misleading since its information lacks substantive evidence.

As a result, it is subjected to some effects which are discussed here below. The effects associated with lies and false advertisements include financial loss, broken trust and customer loyalties, distorted competition among others. False advertising is costly to a company and ends up with a huge amount of money are caught (Garramone 148).

For example, the uber advert, “We have made many improvements to the driver experience over the past one year and will continue to focus on ensuring that Uber is the best option for anyone looking to earn money on their own schedule” attracted them a charge amounting to $20 million dollars by the FTC since their advert was found to be based on false allegations.

However, the company is also likely to suffer more serious financial losses if the advert is pulled down. By so doing, the so affected company will lose the money spent in developing the advert. The company can also be sued on the basis of a false advert and be charged more fines in court must also pay the customers who filed the caseFalse advertising has a vast effect on braking trust with clients (Garramone 152).

A company engaged in such illegal act gives an impression of lack of its trustworthiness to business in the sight of customers. This will affect the relationship of the company with its existing and new customers, who will feel betrayed and are likely to look for new suppliers of the same goods and services somewhere else.

Customers may lose loyalty to the business consequently, building a negative reputation of such business on the public domain. This is likely to affect the future operation of a business. Finally, deceptive advertising reduces the competitive advantage of the business. Ideally, a healthy competition between two or many companies should aim at benefiting the customers by providing them with quality products and services at a cheaper cost.

However, a company engaged in false advertising may spend a larger amount of money to make their products attractive. This may hamper their creativity and innovation since they will refrain from conducting research to determine the new factual ways of bettering the quality of their services.In conclusion, false advertisement is misleading.

It involves the use untrue information, without supportive evidence about the quality of goods and product. In a business perspective, the intention of a false advert is to attract more customers and increase the number of sales. It gives a false impression to the customers about a product quality.

However, it affects businesses in various ways, which include excessive loss of finance, loss of customer loyalty, and disrupting healthy competition thus lowers the competitive advantage of a business.

Visual culture and social norms presented in our everyday life influence the way we think about gender. In “Becoming Members of Society”, author, Aaron Devor discusses how society impacts our gender identity. Advertisement consumes the public life and shapes how we view ourselves. Axe Deodorant is a brand of male grooming products known to spark controversy all over the world for their commercials and ads. For the Axe Cottage scent that came out in 2008, a sexist, stereotypical commercial was also delivered to its consumers to advertise the new scent (Axe). The commercial displays a cottage with a variety of attractive girls that are all miserable because… they simply need a man. The Axe ad reinforces the stereotypical analysis that Aaron Devor focuses on by recognizing women to be vulnerable, weak and dependent while men are needed, strong and independent.

Commercials and ads are purely presented to attract the attention of consumers. Every product or service is more popular to one group of consumers than others depending on their interests, comforts and values. As a result, every company tries to target a specific group to have an increase success rate in selling their products. Axe Deodorant clearly states who their targeted consumers are: young males. The commercial starts and ends with confused girls in this “Axe Cottage” that they are located at. One girl cannot apply sunscreen lotion on her own back, while another girl has breakfast ready to be served without anyone to serve it to and several girls look depressed because they have no one to do activities with. The commercial finally ends with bold words stating, “You’re needed at the Axe Cottage”(Axe). The commercial clearly depicts that there is disorder in the cottage without the presence of a man. In every scene, each girl is tragically confused on why there is not a man around. The commercial shows that women cannot perform daily activities if a male figure is not around to help them. Devor explains how “the social hegemony of this ideology ensures that we are all raised to practice gender roles which will confirm the vision of the nature of the sexes” (Devor 535). If that was the case and we practiced the gender roles displayed in the “Axe Cottage” commercial, then women would be robots, lost and useless without their masters, and in this case, men.

The commercial is obviously directed to grab the attention of males but by being “humorous”, the commercial is hurting the views on women. Their product’s advertisements encourage sexism. It epitomizes the sexist and degrading marketing that can undermine girls’ healthy development. Devor states that, “femininity must be expressed through modes of dress, movement, speech, and action which communicate weakness, dependency, ineffectualness, availability for sexual or emotional service, and sensitivity to the needs of others” (Devor 532). Basically what Devor is saying is that women should display softness and reliance in everything they do. “Axe Cottage” supports Devor’s examination by having all the women so utterly confused and unhappy because there is not a man to apply lotion on their backs, serve food to, and play sports with. Commercials and ads like the “Axe Cottage” desensitizes how women are portrayed which makes it seem like it is not a big deal. Devor identifies norms of females in society to be weaker than men and that is exactly what is portrayed in this ad.

Aaron Devor states that “Masculine characteristics are used to identify persons as males, while feminine ones are used and signifiers for femaleness” (Devor 530) and those characteristics are all affected by ads like the “Axe Cottage”. Why must women be held at lower standards than men? He also says, “As we move through our lives, society demands different gender performances from us and rewards, tolerates, or punishes us differently for conformity to, or digression from, social norms” (Devor 528). If that is the case, will we be praised for accompanying to men like the women do in the “Axe Cottage”? Will we be punished if we are not relying on men like we should be? The discrimination of genders is only increasing because of the social norms and standards that the public is creating. This barrier between males and females only leads companies like Axe to poke fun and mock the weaker gender in their advertisements. Women are forced to think that if they do not act like the women in the commercial, then there is something wrong.

Both the “Axe Cottage” commercial and Aaron Devor’s “Becoming Members of Society” underline the meaning of social norms. “Axe Cottage” definitely strengthens Devor’s argument on the effect of gender roles and gender identities. The commercial shows Devor’s ideas of the “generalized other” by having society’s perception on females. The “generalized other” of women is exactly what you see in the commercial. The vulnerability, weakness, and dependency that women are viewed to hold is the message of the “Axe Cottage” when the entire point of this commercial is just simply to sell their new product. “Axe Cottage” is not the only commercial by Axe that shows gender discrimination. Every single one of their commercials displays men as the untouchable while women are being targeted. Many countries have completely banned Axe commercials to be played and there are several petitions online to take down Axe commercials for good. Commercials like these have a negative impact on the males who watch it and the women who are mocked by it. Like “Axe Cottage”, advertisements influence their audience on how each gender should look, think, and behave while hurting us more than we think. Aaron Devor’s piece voices out the social norms of genders and the “Axe Cottage” commercial is pure evidence of Devor’s criticism.