The Sins Of Advertising

The bad news is that advertising is everywhere, and it's harmful. How much does it affect your life?

I've been ill throughout Christmas and the New Year, boo hoo. Hence, I've watched more than my usual intake of television over the festive season. What made this experience even less enjoyable was the ton of advertisements that I've had to avoid. As a fully-fledged Grumpy Old Man, I find almost all advertising utterly unbearable, whether it be on TV, in the print media or online. Thus, over the years, I've developed what I call `ad blindness' -- the ability to ignore adverts at a glance. Indeed, during commercial breaks on television, I mute the sound in order to silence the `cry to buy'. Amusingly, without any soundtrack, it's tough to figure out what most ads are selling before they end... Another annoying feature of commercial breaks is the sudden increase in volume as programmes cut to the ads. Although this isn't illegal under the TV Advertising Standards Code, some broadcasters take this trick too far. Indeed, in 2005, Channel Five was criticised by the Advertising Standards Authority for allowing `almost constant loudness' during commercial breaks. A negative influence So, adverts are loud, intrusive and all over the place. Furthermore, it's my view that advertising -- and product marketing in general -- has an overall negative effect on our lives. This seems particularly true when studying ads aimed at women and young girls. From what I've seen, all advertising aimed at women is designed to make them feel awful about the way they dress, look and feel. The worst offenders are the sellers of cosmetics and beauty products, which use bogus, pseudo-scientific claptrap to flog their wares. Advertising aimed at men isn't that much better, either. It seems to be dominated by glossy marketing for flash cars, `rugged' aftershaves, `designer' clothing and `jokey' beer ads. What does that say about our male role models and the aspirations that we have for British society? Of course, most adults are too sophisticated and shrewd to allow themselves to be fooled by advertisers. However, the same can't be said for teenagers and children, who are most at risk from the siren song of advertising. For example, my four-year-old daughter insisted that I buy her a particular toy, simply because the ad claimed it was `for big girls'. I refused, of course. In addition, advertising makes life considerably harder for parents, because it takes `pester power' to new heights. This reaches a climax around Christmas, although sophisticated marketing techniques work their magic on children all year round. Imagine the look that I gave my little boy when he replied "Every little helps" when I thanked him for his help! Moreover, there is some evidence that advertising may indeed be bad for societies. In his excellent book Affluenza (which I reviewed here), clinical psychologist Oliver James compared advertising expenditure in various countries with their respective rates of mental distress. Although his data didn't prove a causal link between the two, James clearly showed that there is a high correlation in societies between extreme advertising and poor mental health (including anxiety, depression, personality disorder and substance abuse). No End In Sight Obviously, advertising is a key plank of consumer capitalism, so it's never going to go away. However, unless you want to spend your life keeping up with those wretched Joneses, then be careful how much you allow yourself to be influenced by marketing. Otherwise, by being pressured into buying far more than you need, you become a worshopper: someone who worships the gods of shopping. In time, this will surely make you less happy, not more. Finally, remember that once you've been seduced by advertising, it's hard to come back down to earth and get out of debt! More: Start the year with a first-rate savings account | Does Wealth Make Us Worse? | Admire, Aspire, Acquire? No Thanks!