The Power and Danger of Advertising

If you turn on the TV today to any sports channel, chances are you’re going to get a commercial for alcohol. Drive on the highway for a few miles and look around at the various billboards strategically placed around you. You most likely will notice an array of beer ads, directions to a local gun shop, or which exit has the closest casino. Ads have always been instilled in our culture. Everywhere we look, brands surround us with subliminal and not-so-subliminal advertisements. Advertisements should have intrinsic value in otorease consumers’ lives, not make them harder. Intrinsic is defined as “belonging to the essential nature or constitution of a thing” (Meriam-Webster).

The last few weeks in class, we have discussed the involvement of the government in advertisements. One question that has been holding a lot of weight in our class is should the government be able to ban advertising for products that hurt people? Advertisements are protected under the first amendment. Virginia State Pharmacy Board v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council in 1976 changed the way brands can advertise. This law made it so no brands can include false, deceptive, or illegal information. One of the largest examples of how this law affects advertisements is with cigarettes. Cigarette brands used to show celebrities, well-dressed actors, and flashy lifestyles in their ads to create an inciting lifestyle for consumers to want to buy into. Cigarettes must include warning labels and cannot be advertised to kids. There is no clear black and white when it comes to advertising dangerous products and the government can only do so much.

Companies hold a unique responsibility in society. Their consumers trust them to provide them with accurate information and not withhold anything that could deter them from wanting to buy their products. They should also not create advertisements with deceitful information that would sway the consumer to purchase because they believe they are getting something better than what they truly are getting. The government should not be responsible for setting limitations on advertisements. Non-governmental entities such as the FTC or FDA were created to provide additional protection for consumers.

In today’s society, information is free-flowing and easily accessible to everyone who uses the internet or social media platforms. While ads used to be mostly seen on TV, in stores, or on the highway, now they are instilled everywhere in our lives. When I scroll through Instagram or TikTok, I see countless ads from both brands and influencers. Companies pay influencers to promote products in turn for monetary compensation. Many times, these influencers don’t truly understand what they are promoting, which can be dangerous. This can be especially dangerous considering the number of children on social media platforms. People and parents must be aware of the number of ads being shown to them daily.