Americans Look At Ads example essay topic

It's been said that the more a person acquires in life the more happy he or she will be. Materialism is defined as the devotion to materialism, with a disinterest in or rejection of spiritual values. But is a person with less wealth any less happy than one who has no material needs? This is a question that has been asked throughout the world's existence. WHAT or HOW MUCH material possession must one have until they " re content? The "need" of material possessions has been equaled with happiness many times in this country.

Sadly the majority of Americans believe that wealth and a materialistic lifestyle is the way to go, and the fastest way to happiness and popularity. When we think about goals, we think of items such as: a great paying job, large house, expensive cars, and even winning the lottery. America is obsessed with the "good life", where we are able to show others that we are wealthy and in turn that we have a high status. People in America have slowly wanted to buy more and more and the increase of this materialism ideal is not slowing down. Huge amounts of advertisements "attack" Americans every day.

We see ads in magazines, on cars and buses, up high on billboards, on the television and with the infamous internet "pop-ups". These ads don't stop and Americans are slowly brought into the material world. On average, a typical American sees over 5,000 advertisements a day! Advertisements are the most influential media in our world. Not only do they sell us products but they also shape our ideas and affect our look and behavior. Americans look at ads and tend to copy what they see, thinking that that if they buy that product they will automatically look and feel like that person on the advertisement.

A good example of this "fake product" is makeup and their ads. Girls see beautiful women go on about how this makeup has changed her life and especially her face. Women viewing this advertisement see this actress and know that if they wear that makeup and no other makeup; they will look like the woman in the ad. Does this make sense? Doesn't this girl know that she can't possibly look like the actress with a brush of the makeup? Doesn't she know?

But sadly, she doesn't. Women can't get enough of makeup, buying it like it was free. Americans want to be cool like that particular person in the ad, so they NEED to buy that clothes style, shoe, or even food! Watch a television commercial and you are bound to see products being endorsed by celebrities.

An example of an endorsement is Shaquile O'Neal, who is endorsing Radio Shack. The viewers are lead to believe that the famous support these products and that by buying them will make them a popular person too. Often the celebrities that endorse products only do so for the money and do not stand behind the particular product with any guarantees or actually use the product themselves! When television viewers see Shaquile O'Neal sitting on top of "Radio Shack" letters, they are lead to believe that he goes there and buys products from there. This advertisement also leads the viewers to think that if a superstar like him goes there, that the products must be amazing. They decide to go there, based on the thought that Shaquile O'Neal goes there and never saying once he actually does.

People love to buy expensive cars, clothes, houses, and etc but for what? What are people accomplishing with having a $200,000 sports car! The answer is simple in words, but confusing sometimes also. Some Americans are the "cream of the crop" and they want to keep it that way. Americans are known for putting more than 10 million dollars into a house and never thinking twice about it.

Americans are known for buying a $300,000 dollar Lamborghini and thinking about getting another one! But why do they? Why do Americans want to spend that huge amount of money on just ONE thing? The simple answer is that we Americans are obsessed with having the "babe magnet". In general, Americans don't care about the money or how much the car will be broken into, for the only thing Americans care about is to impress others. It is as simple as that, spending that type of money only to impress people and in turn to boost their own self-esteem.

Is it really worth it though, for you to become paranoid that someone is going to break into your car plus getting 5 feet a gallon, on a car that you can't possibly race ANYWHERE! What is the point of having a Lamborghini with a V-16 engine that gets horrible mileage even on the highway? What is the point of having a sports car in general? The answer can be told from anyone with a sports car, after some lies.

"I bought it so I can speed". (NO) "I bought it for performance". (NO) and finally "I bought it, so when I pull up alongside a crowd, I get wows and ohs and ahs from everyone there, PLUS chicks dig sports cars!" (YES) Throughout America, advertisements lure consumers to buy their products. Advertisements are placed everywhere from newspapers, magazines, schools, and on billboards. A well-known advertising strategy is making consumers feel insecure and creating fears that can be overcome by buying.

Advertising reveals the latest fashions and the new popular products on the market. It shows perfect individuals wearing the new styles and looking good. American consumers observe this perfection and envy it. Therefore, they go out and buy in hopes of reaching perfection. Furthermore, being an accepted member of society has become very important to most individuals. Due to the fear by consumers that they will not fit in, they pay close attention to the new ads for the new looks, which gives advertisers more drive to make their ads portray the ideal person.

Critics of the advertising industry say that this "perfect person" with everything connects products with preferred emotions, such as happiness and especially popularity. For some Americans, popularity is extremely important to them. They believe that they need to be on the top of everything, or if not there is no point of living. Popularity including happiness is very important, so when an advertisement shows a popular person smiling from ear to ear, America is quickly drawn in to thinking that that particular product is the way to happiness and everyone liking you. This way of the "perfect person is also very important in athletics.

For example, Nike ads are basically implying that their shoes will give a consumer athletic ability. For example, a Nike ad showing Michael Jordan dunking a basketball, wearing a new style of Nike shoes, will automatically make kids want to wear those same style to be "like Mike" and have the exact same power as he does on the court. Teenagers, who I believe are the biggest materialistic group, have become top consumers in today's society, and advertisers know that down to the exact style of clothes. Teens buy 25% of all movie tickets and 27% of all videos, totaling to an amazing $6.6 billion dollars. Winning teens over as customers, today, means possible long-term customers tomorrow. With the majority of teens also have part-time jobs; teens have become to have a huge amount of buying power in America.

Teens are also able to spend their money more freely because they do not have the responsibilities of adults. Why are teenagers such big targets in the advertising industry? The answer is simple: They are different for other age groups. Advertisers view teenagers as a constant changing group that wants to stay with the "in crowd" and dare I say, ever want to fall from the "cool group". Teens are constantly buying new items to keep up with the changing trends. Therefore, advertisers use their view of teens to create ads.

They make posters with college age students that are having a good old time. Television commercials include music with good beats and images that get the attention of teens. Teens extremely follow their favorite celebrities and what that particular celebrity sells mostly always changes the view of a product. Every time we open a newspaper or we turn on the TV, we see sellers of almost identical products spending huge amounts of money in order to convince us to buy their brands. And unfortunately, these huge numbers of ads aren't going away anytime soon.

America needs to buckle up and settle in for the wild ride of the future being piloted by a group called marketers..