광고는 실제보다 물건을 더 좋아 보이게 만든다. |
There are advertisements everywhere. They are on newspapers, on web pages, the walls etc. We see them every day; however, we shouldn’t just accept what they show us. Even though they seem to be a neutral medium, I believe that advertisements make products look better than they really are by magnifying the pros of them. There are two reasons why advertisements are not so real. First, the nature of advertising is unsuitable for a neutral medium. Companies do not advertise in order to just introduce a product, but they advertise to ‘promote’ a product. Also, the purpose of this promotion is to get consumers to purchase the product. In order to do so, an advertiser has got to make the product look attractive to customers. As a result, the benefits of the product are emphasized, and the other side, cons, is covered. Besides, another fundamental purpose of advertising is to compete against other companies. There are many companies, brands, in the same business-fast food chains, for example. Burger King would want to promote its burgers so that it can beat those from McDonald’s, which is one of the strongest companies in this business. In the process, to appeal to the consumers, it will, again, have to give out some false information or hide some, which might cause it to appear unattractive. With this nature of advertising, it’s impossible for it to be neutral. Moreover, advertisers have incentives to mislead the consumers. If an advertisement appeals to the customers, it will sell its product. As products are sold, the producers, who are customers for the advertisers, acquire wealth. Then, the advertisers get credit from the producers. The credit ensures that the advertisers will have people who would use their service. At last, the wealth will come to advertisers as well since they are able to sell their service. To make money, advertisers occasionally mislead the consumers, us. When these two reasons add up, it’s not difficult to believe that advertisements are not trustworthy. Many people would think so, and so do I. |