Advertisements do more harm than good ??? Debate !!!

rj031086

rj031086

Rohan Jain
Advertisements do more harm than good ??? Debate !!!

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.

Lets Debate - Is having widespread advertising good for a society ?
 
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Well I pose a different view on this topic....

Advertising is a good communication tool between sellers and buyers. If there would not have been any advertising we would not be having any competition, product knowledge, new launches etc. Advertising brings out the creative mind in one. Ofcourse the advertisement must be a ligitimate one & not a destructive one. In other words a healthy competition should be maintained amongst competitioners.

But advertising in the form of publicity stunt is definitely a no-no. If there would not have been any advertising we would have missed some of the best creative ads like the vodafone (zoo-zoos ad) and many more......

Hence Advertising is a must...
 
I think 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.
 
Well the question is not to stop advertising as u mentioned above. Its just whether it does more harm or more good.

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. Ask a dark man to apply 'Fair N Lovely' ;does he really get fair as d ad says??? 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.
Moreover fast food ads have bad affect on children.
So i say advertising is only good if its true.
 
Well,,

Advertising is just a way to market a product or an idea. The final decision is on the individual what he wants to do from that piece of information via advertisement. Companies follow any and every practice to market their product. It all depends upon the loyalty of the individual towards a product and his basic understanding and view on the advertisement.
 
I totally agree wid what u said Rohan. Advertising is just a way to market your prouct or idea & the final decision rests upon d individual. But y u forgetting that people will only see or understand what u'll show them. So y to fake them about your products. Advertise in such a way that people know both pros and cons abt ones product. Dats d biggest disadvantage wid advertising, more pricesly 'bad advertising'.
Due to such bad adverts only Govt have to show diff adverts regarding Consumer Rights otherwise there was no need for govt or other NGOs to come in between.
 
The thing that you are telling about fake ads or mis-representation, that just happens only when there are lots & lots of brands available in the market and a new company wants to command some market share. For eg: The beauty cream ads. Every one know no one can get a fairer skin with that specified time period as mentioned by the advertisers. For this the company had to pay for their alleged misrepresentation.

And if companies start giving the cons of the product then people will only stick out to one product which may create a case of monopoly in some markets which no economy needs. And the consumers today are quite intelligent in choosing a particular product.

So giving bad side of the product is totally not justified.
 
rj031086 said:
I totally agree wid what u said Rohan. Advertising is just a way to market your prouct or idea & the final decision rests upon d individual. But y u forgetting that people will only see or understand what u'll show them. So y to fake them about your products. Advertise in such a way that people know both pros and cons abt ones product. Dats d biggest disadvantage wid advertising, more pricesly 'bad advertising'.
Due to such bad adverts only Govt have to show diff adverts regarding Consumer Rights otherwise there was no need for govt or other NGOs to come in between.
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No Rj..how can a company in its ad campaign talk about the product limitations or wat are the cons in using their pro/service. Bad advertising is one which a company endorses its brand while deteriorating other brand in the same category excessively... like horlicks in one of its campaign made a direct comparision of value that a consumer derives vis-a-vis Complan Health drink... customers are sensitive to such criticism...

However families do show an aversion to advertisments which has vulgarity... but they are best conveyed to its Target Groups...n the purpose of the ad companies is fulfilled...

its consumer perspective how they view an ad...wat say??
 
Advertisements are absolutely essential and as has already been discussed in the previous post that it acts as a bridge between the firm and the consumer else one would have missed out on a lot many products .Drawing a line between ethical /unethical marketing would be a tough one in the intense competitive world that firms exist in today and hence advertising to gain market share (on a practical basis) is justified by a majority of firms. Consumers are intelligent and definitely aware and yet they take these decisions fully aware of the pros and cons else one would not have smokers if one assumes the majority to be innocent and preys to advertising. I believe ads have more to offer in terms of information and let the consumer take his call
 
Well i agree to what you people said. I should'nt have said that adverts should show their cons. But still i say that adverts do harm our society. Advertising leads to many people being overwhelmed by the endless need to decide between competing demands on their attention – ill call it choice overload.
Search on web or go through newspapers which clearly mentions 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.
 
Advertising leads to many people being overwhelmed by the endless need to decide between competing demands on their attention – ill call it choice overload.
Moreover 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.
I do not have problems with advertising but i have problems with what they claim and when its not true.
 
Advertising leads to many people being overwhelmed by the endless need to decide between competing demands on their attention – ill call it choice overload.

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.
I have no problems with adverts but i have problems with their claim and when they do not stand true of what they say.

Well a recent small e.g - You might take it in a funny sense
Yesterday my small cousin who cant operate his mobile comfortably got a message from Reliance stating - "hi i am Neha. If you want to talk to me than call me on 513254 (i dont remember the exact msg)." He was so shocked as he said he didnt know any Neha than who is she. He was about to call when i stopped him. Well will that be called advertising?? So cheap !!!
 
Plz note the topic does not say - 'whether to ban advertisements or not'.
Our discusion should be whether its more good or more harmful.
 
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Advertising leads to many people being overwhelmed by the endless need to decide between competing demands on their attention – ill call it choice overload.
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Imagine you left with no choice but just the same product to buy again and agian....leading to no development to the economy, stagnation of growth & a boring life.!!......Are we ready for that?

Well a recent small e.g - You might take it in a funny sense
Yesterday my small cousin who cant operate his mobile comfortably got a message from Reliance stating - "hi i am Neha. If you want to talk to me than call me on 513254 (i dont remember the exact msg)." He was so shocked as he said he didnt know any Neha than who is she. He was about to call when i stopped him. Well will that be called advertising?? So cheap !!!
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Well if thats the case then your cousin is probably too young to understand the technology and how it functions and how to use it. And the message that he recieved is just an SMS form of marketing which every one does and thats not at all cheap.

And yes advertising does more good than harm and moreover if people comes across any fraudlent practices in the form of advertising than as mentioned earlier there are many consumer forums who fights cases on their behalf.

So advertising is definitely good.
 
Advertising is giving 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.
 
Well i do agree that my cousin is probably too young to understand the technology and how it functions and how to use it.
The message that he recieved is just an SMS form of marketing which every one does . Its not at all cheap.I dont agree to this. Why do companies need to advertise or market it in such a way. They could simply say - "Call on this no. and make new phone friends".
This phrase wen read will appear much practical and understandable even by a small kid or an elder. So thats cheap marketing. Well not be specific about this sms stuff, the point here is that evryone does such marketing just to earn profits.
It should be done in such a way so that customers know why they want a particular product and to give them benifits rather than just selling your product.
 
certainly yes, then not only add to the cost of a product, but the biggest worry is that they do not allow the products of small firms to reap the benefit in the market who do not have sufficient funds to carry on with advertising.
 
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