“What do advertisements tell young people they should value?

Gabriel Lopez

English 101-B10
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It only took a few minutes for me realize that the relationship between young Americans and

American Advertising was a little more than casual. I was anticipating a television event that

gives me a glimpse into today’s youth culture. That event was the MTV Music Awards show.

The show itself is as bad as it gets, but it’s what comes on during the commercial break, that

shows us what American Advertising says young people should value. Dr. Walt Mueller founder

and President of the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding says, “Marketing is telling our kids

what to think, what to value, what to believe, what to worship, and how to spend their money and

lives”.2 The casual relationship we once knew between youth and advertising is no longer

existent. No, instead American Advertising is telling our young people what they should value.

There are many ways that it is doing this, but one thing that I would like to focus on is. American

Advertising says youth should value physical appearance.

After nine years of marriage and three kids, my wife decided that it was way past time to

start dieting and she felt she needed to start taking better care of herself. After a few weeks of

exercise and dieting, she settled into a deep depression. She felt as though she could never
measure up to society’s standard of beautiful and was worried about our daughter. You see even

in a household where the moral and Christian values are taught, the effect of American

Advertising is still present.

As a Youth Pastor, I see the effects of this on a day to day basis. Youth are often singled out

and chosen based on what they see. A young person might start being friends based on what

another young person might wear. Students are often made fun of because they do not have

enough money or because there physical appearance isn’t up their standard. Dr. Walt Mueller

also states, “Because they are being marketed to with increasing frequency and depth, vulnerable

kids find it easier to believe advertising's messages and promises. As a result, they will

increasingly define themselves by their possessions, seeking happiness, satisfaction, meaning,

and redemption in the accumulation of things.”3 We need to openly communicate to our children

what we should value and stop allowing the media to raise our children.

Here are a few statistics that show the emphasis that American Advertising puts on physical

appearance. ”the average woman sees 400 to 600 advertisements per day, and by the time she is

17 years old, she has received over 250,000 commercial messages through the media. It has

been estimated that young women see more images of beautiful women in one day than their

mothers saw through their entire adolescence. Only 9% of commercials have a direct statement

about beauty, but many more implicitly emphasize the importance of beauty - particularly those

that target women and girls.”4 The statistic above shows that advertisers are no longer

approaching this in a casual way. Young women are being bombarded with images that say you

should look this way, or you are not beautiful unless you look like this. There aggressive
approach has changed what today’s youth value not by outright stating it but by implying it. The

phrase more caught than taught comes into play here.

If those statistics regarding young women are not enough, then here are few more that show

that young men are also being bombarded with images that emphasize physical attractiveness.

“In May 2004, researchers at the University of Central Florida released a study saying men who

watched TV commercials with muscular actors felt unhappy about their own physiques. This

‘culture of muscularity’ can be linked to eating disorders and steroid abuse, the researchers

said.” 5 Why would they be doing this? What would make grown adults lie to young people and

tell them that honorable things worth valuing are not worth it? Surely, they would not do this just

to sell products.

Loyalty means money. If American Advertising can get young people stuck on a brand at

such a young age, then what is to keep them from buying another brand? According to Forrester

Research, “teens are brand-conscious and brand-loyal at an early age. Noting that 69% of

teens say that when they find a brand they like, they stick with it. In a recent study of online

teens, Forrester found that two-thirds of them, or 66%, say they buy brands that reflect their

style, and that they use brands to fashion an image for themselves. 50% say it’s perfectly okay to

pay extra for a well-known brand, even though only 23% agree that brand isn’t always the best

indication of quality. More than 1/3 says that brand is an important part of their buying

decisions.”6 It’s not just young people that are valuing the wrong things for the wrong reasons,

but it is the adults that are marketing these young people that really have bad taste concerning

their values.
In the book of 1 Samuel chapter sixteen verse 7, the Lord said; “Man looks at the outward

appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”7 I am not sure if American Advertising is doing

this to be defy what we are trying to instill in our children on purpose. It would not be fair for me

to say that. But I think that in our pursuit for success and prosperity, we have lost what we

should value. And if we as leaders of our family intentionally pursue God and His standard, then

we can effectively change the negative effect that American Advertising has on our young

people. Josh McDowell states, “Research shows that parents have a 300 percent greater influence

on a child’s spiritual or theological belief than their pastor or youth pastor. So a lot of it comes

down to the parents.”8 The above statement shows that we have a better shot at effecting our kids

than the most spiritual people. So it is evident that American Advertising does do a number on

our children, but there is still hope if we spend more time influencing and teaching them rather

than the media.

 1
http://www.bwgreyscale.com/adimg01/adv_0247.JPG
2
Mueller, Walt. "How Marketing’s “Making” Your Kids." www.youthministry.com. accessed 27
June 2010.

3
Mueller, Walt. "How Marketing’s “Making” Your Kids." www.youthministry.com. accessed 27
June 2010.

4
"Advertising and Youth/ Body Image." www.youthxchange.net. accessed 27 June 2010.

5
"Advertising and Youth/ Body Image." www.youthxchange.net. accessed 27 June 2010.

6
"Advertising Targeting Youth." www.youthxchange.net. accessed 27 June 2010.

7
Zondervan, Holy Bible, New International Version, 1984

8
McDowell, Josh. The Last Christian Generation. Holiday: Green Key Books, 2006

I. Introduction

II. Thesis Statement. American Advertising says youth should value physical appearance.

III. The emphasis on physical appearance.

 a) Young Women are bombarded with media images

b) Young men are not immune

IV. The reason Why

V. Conclusion

References

"Advertising and Youth/ Body Image." www.youthxchange.net. accessed 27 June 2010.

"Advertising and Youth/ Body Image." www.youthxchange.net. accessed 27 June 2010.

"Advertising Targeting Youth." www.youthxchange.net. accessed 27 June 2010.

http://www.bwgreyscale.com/adimg01/adv_0247.JPG

McDowell, Josh. The Last Christian Generation. Holiday: Green Key Books, 2006

Mueller, Walt. "How Marketing’s “Making” Your Kids." www.youthministry.com. accessed 27 June
2010.

Mueller, Walt. "How Marketing’s “Making” Your Kids." www.youthministry.com. accessed 27 June
2010.

Zondervan, Holy Bible, New International Version, 1984