Advertising in mass media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Advertising in mass media - Essay Example Unlike other forms of indoctrination; this approach is mild and oblique in its approach. Advertisers do not challenge prevailing values and ideas. They preferred to introduce new terms of fulfillment and satisfaction. The most predominant theme echoed in several advertisements throughout the ages is the superiority of capitalism and consumer culture. Marketers make it appear as though consumer goods are the ultimate solution for contemporary problems. They tend to obscure distinctions between the rich and poor or the lower and the upper class. Several advertisements contain seemingly exclusive products that should be a reserve for the well to do. However, through the phenomenon of mass production, these products can be accessed by any member of society. Marchand describes several instances in which mass media specialists of the 1920s sought to convince buyers that their products would equalize their status (82). A wealthy socialite could afford the finest china or expensive butler, but they still enjoyed the same brand of coffee that typical citizens bought. Alternatively, a marketer might claim that their soap could make women’s hands just as soft as their favorite socialite. In society today, advertisers use celebrities to endorse their products, and make them seem accessible to the common man. These media bodies illustrate that consumer products accord similar comforts to all members of society and thus endorse the status quo. The subtle message behind such advertisers is to obscure the economic inequalities inherent in any capitalist society. If consumers heed to these ideas, they will learn to accept their place in the existing social order. Revolts against the elite or other similar controllers of wealth would be unnecessary if people of all walks of life could enjoy similar things. Furthermore, political leaders would not need to organize a massive wealth redistribution program since the electorate was already satisfied with