Is Advertising Really Pure Evil?
When it comes down to the bare bones of the issue, or is it the beating heart, whatever… the main thing is… they want you to buy more stuff. This is a pretty simple concept and it has been said before, blah, blah, blah. The power play comes in at the juncture where what they’re selling coincides with what you need. The thing which tips the power in the advertisers favour is when they convince you that you need something you don’t. This gets more complicated when you take into account wants versus needs.
Further complicating things is context. The context today is we’ve moved far away from worrying about needs. We WANT STUFF. Lots of Stuff. Shiny, pastel-coloured, Curvy Stuff which will make us happy and able to satisfy our every sense and then do it all again. We also want it all NOW. Instantly. None of this patience shit and waiting for things which are ‘worthwhile’… I know what’s worthwhile because I feel it now and I want it right fucking now.
I don’t believe Advertisers have any sway, not really, in terms of ‘Making us buy more stuff’. They are merely the temptation… WE make the choice. It is within us… the choice of wanting stuff we don’t need and also to want it right now. So is advertising pure evil? No. Advertising is just showing us what is within us… in the end WE choose. I would say that advertising is only evil if that is what we see within ourselves. You don’t have to buy the product and even if you do… do you need it right now?
Advertising is just stimulus and we can either react automatically to whatever whims and desires move us or be a little bit more AWARE of what’s happening around us and choose to RESPOND to stimulus in our own best interest.
Advertising is only really effective because we all only operate on auto-pilot, we set ourselves up with bad habits of wanting things we don’t need and things we want right now. So when it finally flashes before our eyes and ears we simply react. And, if we are all operating on auto-pilot, that makes us less human because the real thing which makes us human is our ability to choose.
You can’t blame the stimulus… advertising is not the enemy… you are.
Very, very well put :)
I think one aspect – which is a layer above just the bare bones – is that the VOLUME of advertising pushes that inner carnal self out more. I mean, at the root, what you say is true: advertising just tempts our desires – but ultiamtely, we have the choice.
The thing is, though, we’re exposed to SO MUCH advertising. When the environment is so flooded with advertising, it’s bound to have an effect on a person – even if they try to avoid it. (Because you can’t walk around with your head down all the time – avoiding looking at anything).
So, the VOLUME of advertising baits that inner desire. Because we see ads so much, it can pull that inner nafs out more and more.
So, the key, i think, is to be very careful of the stimuli you take in.
“Lowering the gaze” doesn’t only apply to the opposite sex. I believe it applies to everything where you have the potential to transgress.
Anyway, good post :)