Advertising has grown to be an industry worth many billions of dollars across the

world. Almost all public space has some advertisements in sight and all forms of
media, from newspapers to the internet, are also filled with adverts. Whilst this
helps companies sell their produces, and helps consumers to learn what is on offer,
many believe that this huge amount of advertising can be harmful. It may make
people want too much, or things that they cannot have, or it might make them feel
inadequate when they don't have something. Research shows that children can be
particularly open to these kinds of risk.

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Arguments

Pros

The levels of advertising are just too much these days. You cannot walk down the
street, ride on a bus, watch television or read your email without seeing
advertisements. People shouldn't have to have their lives attacked by a huge
quantity of information they might not want.

cons

No-one is forced to put advertising on their property - for many companies it is an

important part of their income. Football teams would have much less money if they
were not sponsored. And no-one is forced to look at advertising - you can turn the
TV off between shows, or just flick past adverts in newspapers. If you don't want
to see the adverts, then just ignore them.

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pros

Advertising leads to many people being overwhelmed by the endless need to decide
between competing demands on their attention � this is known as the tyranny of
choice or choice overload. Recent research suggests that people are on average less
happy than they were 30 years ago - despite being better off and having much more
choice of things to spend their money on. The claims of adverts crowd in on people,
raising expectations about a product and leading to inevitable disappointment after
it is bought. Shoppers feel that a poor purchase is their fault for not choosing
more wisely, and regret not choosing something else instead. Some people are so
overwhelmed that they cannot choose at all.

cons

Advertising has a positive role to play in modern society, helping us choose

between competing goods. Many adverts are drawing our attention to products with
new features, for example more powerful computers, telephones which are also
cameras and music players, or foods with added vitamins. Other adverts try to
compete on price, helping us seek out the cheapest or best value products. In most
cases advertising does not make us go shopping � we would be planning to buy food,
clothes, gifts and entertainment anyway. What advertising does is to help us make
better decisions about how to spend our money, by giving us more information about
the choices available.
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pros

People cannot just choose to ignore advertising, because advertisers use many
underhand methods to get their message across. Posters have attention grabbing
words, or provocative pictures. Some adverts today are even being hidden in what
seem like pieces or art or public information so people don't realise they are
being marketed to. By targeting people�s unconscious thoughts adverts are a form of
brainwashing that take away people's freedoms to make choices.

cons

Adverts which use very sly methods like subliminal images (images which are shown
so quickly the viewer doesn't consciously realise they saw them) are already
banned. The other forms of advertising are just companies being creative. There is
no difference from supermarkets being painted bright colours to make their food
seem more appetising or even people wearing make-up to improve their image. People
make unconscious judgements all the time, and we frequently try to influence these
choices by the way we present ourselves. This isn't brainwashing, so neither is
advertising.

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pros

Many adverts do more than just advertising products. Some try to make people feel
inferior if they don't have the product, or if they have something which the
product would change. Perceptions of beauty and fashion in particular have been
terribly distorted. Many young people have low-self esteem, and lead unhealthy
lifestyles because they feel they should be thinner and more attractive like the
models they see in adverts. This leads to serious problems like eating-disorders
and self-harm.

cons

the media and celebrity magazines do much more harm, by mocking unattractive or
overweight people, and glorifying models who are often dangerously thin. Adverts
never criticise people - that would be terrible for the companies behind them.
Their aim is to understand and provide what people want, and so their adverts only
ever reflect what people think. If people's perceptions are wrong, then it not the
advertisers' job to put them right, but politicians, the media and schools.

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pros

Advertising gives the impression, especially to children, that they can and should
have everything they want. This makes people too interested in material things.
People are becoming more selfish and obsessed with their possessions, and losing
their values of patience, hard work, moderation and the importance of non-material
things like family and friends. This harms their relationships and their personal
development, which has serious effects for society as a whole.

cons

Our society is build around the idea that companies produce things that people
want, and this is what makes us prosperous. If consumers suddenly stopped wanting
to buy so many products then what happens to the people whose job it is to make
them? The economy will suffer terribly. Of course some people take materialism too
far, but most people buy just what they need and then a little extra when they
treat themselves. This is a much better situation than one in which people can only
afford to buy the things they need - that would be a step backwards.

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pros

Advertisers don't have the good of society in mind when they do their work - they
only care about making profit. This means that they regularly advertise unhealthy
or harmful things. Fast food adverts are a large part of the reason so many
children are obese. The adverts just try to make children eat as much food as
possible without any concern for the health costs.

cons

Adverts which promote seriously unhealthy things are becoming very rare. Cigarette
advertising is all but extinct, and alcohol adverts are being more restricted. With
adverts such as fast food we see as well that companies are changing their message
to promote healthier options. This is because it is bad for businesses to be viewed
as harming children. Public pressure and successful regulation will always bring
any advertising problems back under control.

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pros

Advertising gives an unfair advantage to big businesses. Small companies might have
much better products, but they cannot afford to advertise them as well and so
people don't find out about them. This restricts the quality of products for
consumers, and places a huge roadblock to the success of small businesses.

cons

If there wasn't advertising then small businesses would have no chance at all to
make their product well known. Adverts can actually level the playing field - if
you have a good new product, and market it in a clever way then it doesn't matter
how small your company is, you can still make consumers interested. The more you
restrict the freedom of information, the more this helps the large companies who
everyone already knows about.