Is the influence of advertising on our daily lives gone too far or do you consider it essential free speech?

Question

Kids not asking for toys but for brands,does it trouble anyone else?Thoughts,opinions

I wanna thank everyone very much.All answers deserve best in a way so I'm gonna have to leave this one to the voters.You all make intersting and very valid points.

Answer 1

if it were just free speech, it would be ok.

but it is calculated manipulation, costing billion of dollars, targeted at children in particular. It is spawning some very unhealthy patterns.

Answer 2

No, it isn't "essential" free speech. Democracy wouldn't end if all advertising was banned - though advertisers would like you to think that, especially in America.

Has it gone too far? Depends what you mean by "too far".

Personally I'd say it had already gone too far by the 1920's when it was being used to create the "built-in obsolesence", "think what we tell you" consumer society we have had for the last 80+ years.

I could go on about this at length, but you can get the whole basic story from a book called "Propaganda" by Edward Bernays, who was a key figure in setting up the whole shooting match - and proud of it.

Here's just one example of the use of advertising. You can judge for yourself how ideas like these could be used in all kinds of advertising:

When George Bush Snr. and Michael Dukakis were competing for the presidency, Bush's adverts showed Dukakis in black and white, inside a border, like an old photograph. They showed George Bush, on the other hand, in colour movies which filled the whole screen.
Other anti-Dukakis ads showed negative images such as well-known criminals, with the same visual characteristics as the pictures of Dukakis. The pro-Bush ads, however, showed very positive images that would appeal to "middle America", like happy family get-togethers.

Would YOU recognise that these ads were literally teaching you to think: "a vote for Dukakis will expose you to dangerous criminals, but voting for Bush will bring you a happy family life" even though no such message was ever said out loud? It's certainly what many people were THINKING by the time Bush won the election.

Now check out the ads for toys.
Can your child ever be happy again without such and such a toy?
Do you dare call yourself a good parent if you don't rush straight out and buy your kind such and such a toy?
Is your child being taught ways to make your life a misery if s/he doesn't get what s/he wants (because they saw it on TV)?

Remember the cabbage patch kids, and take small comfort that the campaign didn't really have much effect second time round.
Or maybe you shouldn't. After all, the constant need for newness (that is, things not experienced before) is yet another Madison Avenue creation.

Answer 3

It is both. Although it is free speech it also seems to have gone too far. Parents and maybe even schools need to make our children more consumer savvy.
Of course it is a tragedy, but so is the fact that parents use media, enabled by advertisers, to babysit their children. Children are in turn bombarded from magazines, TV and the Internet, which is then reinforced in school by classmates whose parents gave into the pressure.
Sorry I could not be more positive here, but it is a vicious cycle that can only get better if children are taught to be better consumers.

Answer 4

Yes I think its way out of hand. I think kids should be happy and balanced, but not ask outright for brands, until they have their own jobs and can see how hard you have to work for your money. Personally I will buy my daughter what she needs and deserves as far as her grades go and her chores are done etc. I will reward for good behavior too. I will not buy her a cell phone when she is 10. She is going to use her Bible more than a cell phone. Everything is backwards! Why do you think our society has so much drama and crime. Good old fashioned morals have been thrown out the window:(

Answer 5

It troubles me a lot. The biggest concern I have is that drug companies are advertising their newest drugs to entice people to ask their doctors for this. I am deeply opposed to this and think it needs to be stopped. People who know little about medicine can be lured into wanting medications to solve everything.
It is just plain disgusting to me to think that drug companies are making so much money from advertising their products and not spending more to help the poor who need medications. Unfortunely, it is free speech.

Answer 6

Of course it is free speech, but it is up to the consumer to decide when those freedoms have imposed or infringed upon their own rights.

Answer 7

"commercial speech" has never been considered, legally, essential free speech.