, Research Paper
Men and women half-naked in some magazine articles. Words in ads such as ?easy as one, two, three,? and ?it is tradition? is some technique of advertising. Advertisers use subliminal messages to sell the product and give the illusion that if you buy their product then this will happen to you. Keeping that in mind, advertising has negative effects on teens, it changes their perspective on what is or is not.
While reading through Cosmo magazine, I found an advertisement promoting the liquor Bacardi. Bacardi is a liquor that can be mixed with anything to add an alcoholic flavor. This ad has young adults dressed in Hawaiian shirts, plain white shirts, spaghetti strap t-shirts, and cut off shorts. These outfits send a message of being comfortable and casual. Each holding a different drink, such as daiquiris, Tom Collins, Pina Colodas. There are persons of different races, piled on top of one another no space between them. It is similar to the commercial where the college students try to break the record of how many people can fit in a telephone booth so they pile in leaving no space between them. This ad states cubicle by day; Bacardi by night. At the bottom of the ad it states ?this is a traditional drink since 1862.? The message that is being constructed is that this alcoholic beverage has no boundaries, that drinking BACARDI gives freedom. This drink produces a friendship between co-workers, men and women no matter what differences they have being orientation, race, etc. The words cubicle by day and Bacardi by night makes it appear that you can come out of your confined work stringent cubicle that you are imprisoned in during the day, and with one drink of Bacardi become wild at night. It projects the image that you can drink Bacardi at night and leave all of your responsibilities and problems behind.
Of course teens are intrigued by this ad. What is not intriguing about letting loose with friends after a hard day of work? But the question that should be asked is ?how are teens perceiving this?? Teens might see this advertisement as something to look forward to when they begin to work. When they think of work, will they also think of alcohol. Who would not be appeased by mixing alcohol and work. These impressionable teens now picture work with alcohol, leaving an undesired work ethic for future employers who might want to hire them. This also promotes drinking as a way to relieve stress from deadlines, memos, projects, etc., that is associated with work. Advertisers know that we cannot drink our problems away but the illusion that we do drink our problems away is the message being sent. It is a problem that can lead to over drinking, and making people susceptible to alcoholism because they cannot face the problems associated with work. The message that you can have freedom and no boundaries with this drink is negative because a mature adult knows that with drinking there comes the responsibility of knowing your limit. The boundaries you have are not to do something stupid as to get yourself in trouble or be obnoxious to the point you are not wanted around.
The fact that many young people have greater recognition of some alcohol beverage brand labels than of former US Presidents is assurance that advertising is influential. When advertising alcohol we should help young people regard the substance of alcohol as neutral – neither inherently good nor inherently bad. What matters is how it is used, and we must convey by word and example that the abuse of alcohol is never humorous, acceptable, or excusable.
Another magazine advertisement is Weight Watchers. In big bold letters they have Imagine you can eat anything you want and lose weight. That caught my attention, not to mention all the food; pizza, french fries, brownies surrounding the page. We were told foods such as pizza, french fries, and brownies would lead to weight gain, but now we can eat these foods and lose weight. Also there is a picture of the, Duchess of York, (I am going to put her name). A person in the public eye and who we have all seen and no at one time she was overweight, but know because of Weight Watchers she as lost weight. At the bottom of the page are the words ?easy as one, two, three,? which gives the false impression that you do not have to work at losing weight.
We all want something easy, but nothing comes easy there is always a price. Young female teens especially buy into the illusion this ad is sending, because all young female teens want to be skinny as the society has shown that skinny women, seems to be what attracts the men and makes a person happy. With the medical research that is out there today, stating that some persons do not have the DNA to be skinny ?model type?, but this ad is stating that your body build does not matter you can eat anything and lose weight. The famous person they use for the ad more than likely will have a personal trainer that workouts with her. They do not put that in the advertisement, because then losing weight would require work and it would not be easy as the states it is. This advertisement is destructive to the minds of young teens. It gives them the false impression that they will lose weight and be perceived in the public eye as skinny. It they buy into the false advertisement and do not lose weight it could lower self-esteem and possible destroy and confidence they had in themselves.
Female bodies are depicted in advertising imagery and the devasting effect of that imagery on women?s health. Women want the thinness of the model and will do anything to achieve that goal even if it that means doing harm to their body. It could lead to anorexia, bulmia, or even depression. We should promote making our bodies healthy no matter the size. We can promote achieving healthy bodies by working out and ways to exercise at home without the expense of a gym. As well as promoting better eating habits along with an exercise program. Teach young adults that not everyone has the body structure to be thin, but with better eating habits you will have a healthier body.
Furthermore, I have noticed the placement of these such brands that are preferred by adolescents occurs differentially in magazines with a high adolescent readership and is considered lower in magazines without a significant adolescent readership. Advertising encourages young teens to think that life?s problems are best solved with products. Along with promoting these such advertisements we should promote the health consequences.