rough draft

December 3 2012

big city consumers

dear new york consumers

when you think of power what comes to mind? perhaps a body builder, somebody who is strong. Or maybe the government, a group of people who make all the big decisions. Or even the military, trained to protect us and fight our enemies. while all of these answers are true, I have another perception of what power is. My idea of power is creating a catch phrase or image, that with one glance you will want to buy or believe in whatever it is promoting. I think of the power of advertisement, the ability to put a product in the deepest part of your consensus, so far to where you don't even know you want what they're selling, but you still want it, or believe in it. The average consumer,which just about everybody in the world, needs to understand what exactly it is that these advertisement agencies can do, simply knowing can help anyone create a better defense against advertisement.

Since there has been anything to sell, ad agencies and ad men have been around trying to tell us what we need and how much of it we need. they have even been telling us how to act and think. Advertisements are one of the biggest culprits to prejudice and stereotypes in our current time. The employes of advertisement agencies are incredibly smart, so smart that i think we really need to give them the credit they deserve, at least that way we will be able to know what it is we are dealing with. every employe knows all there is to know about psychology sociology, and advertising. basically we can all assume that these people went to school for years, just to know exactly what you want to buy, see, and what will get your attention. If anything, I think we should pretend as if these people know our brains better than we do, which exactly how they want it. however we can still do something about it, by being aware of they're actions, we can not allow derivative ads towards women affect our behaviors. As well as stereotypical ads towards men.

natural these advertisements target what it is that they think will get results, they target comedy or action or sentiment or shock value. however, even when they are they are targeting these topics, there is usually an underline stereotype or agenda. Making girls seem helpless without a man, or how a man can get all the women he wants by mistreating them or being a "bad boy".  however,one it comes to the big guns, these agencies rely on sex to sell whatever it is they need.

According to a study done by the CRTC (Criterion-Referenced Competency Test) in 1985, 50% of the major female characters displayed in ads were primarily set in the home. If i truly asked you if youve seen any comercials about dish soap or making dinner, or a swiffer duster,  or a vacume, that had a male as the lead roll. i could probobly count on my two hands how many there are.
As for selling sex, these advertisement agencies are promoting the idea that "sexy" or "beautiful"means tall and skinny or fit and flawless. along with selling this idea, advertisement agencies are also selling products that will help you become"beautiful" or "sexy". A study done by Jacque Lambiase a professor from Texas Christian University in TX, states that "73%, almost three-quarters, of sexual ads in magazines contained a sex-related brand benefit." meaning that these ads are either saying that if you buy this product, then it will either make you more sexually attractive, have sex better/longer, or just feel sexier all together. For example in recent axe commercials, it shows a young man using said product and instantaneously every woman around him is more attracted to him! skeptical anyone? Of course you are! this ad is a load of shit! Although if you arent completly paying attention, it may not seem so harmful.

I'll admit that just like everybody, i was a victim of this type of brainwashing advertisement. growing up seeing pictures of "beautiful women" and ripped men. Those images are what I strives for, that if i worked out enough id look like that, and id be with women like that, But its not going to happen. Now not to say that you shouldn't work out, or try to stay healthy, but that exactly what your goal should be! not the images of spray painted bodies of people that party and drink every night and never get fat! Not only do these ads lower the self esteem of both men and women, but it DE-senistizes everyone from what is truly normal! if this continues, women will never be satisfied because they don't look like the fake models on TV, and men will never be satisfied because they can never be with a woman that looks like the fake models on TV. however, its not all bad. there are movements to help the situation at hand. For example the dove campaign for "real beauty". In 2004 Dove wanted to broaden the meaning of the term beauty, and start a global conversation and study of the topic and its importance. Among the study’s findings was the statistic that only 2% of women around the world would describe themselves as beautiful. since the results Dove has has employed various communications vehicles to challenge beauty stereotypes.

In the end, i am just a concerned human being who hopes that the common consumer can better defend themselves from stereotypes, generalizations, and false implications. I believe that the best defense is Understanding who is behind these ads, and what they're true intentions are. Hopefully in doing that, we can build a better world with more self confidence, self esteem and overall satisfaction.