A line between persuasion and deception: Ads

 The inaugural blog I write focuses on the discussion we had in one of my classes about advertisements, which spans from advertorial to television ads to e-marketing. This discussion has exposed me to the darker side of the business world.

One of my classmates,Kavin, expressed the opinion that the contemporary advertisements lack in providing the accurate information regarding the quality and contents of the products and it leads people astray by promoting a certain trend.

Vasanth, another classmate, mentioned that advertisements particularly in the comestics and fashion industry  targets women, shielding them from the reality of life's problems and situations. 

Ilfa and Shauna talked about ads that  frequently promote unrealistic beauty standards particularly among young people, the face symmetry trend that still continues for the past two years. This pushes people to care about their personal beauty rather than facing the serious situations. This brings to mind a report from the New York Times regarding symmetrical faces. According to the report, the pandemic might be partly responsible for this strange trend as, in the past two years ,we’ve stared for hours at our own and other people’s faces on screens either during calls or conferences. 

"The more symmetry a body has, the more attractive it is,we find something ‘wrong’ with even slight asymmetries."

                                     - Nancy Etcoff

Celebrities, who endorse products play a crucial role in persuading people to adopt a certain trend, leading them to  believe it'll demonstrate their admiration for the celebrity. They also promote the notion that possession of a particular product reflects one's social status and position in the society. 

Content creators in social media often employ exaggerated or false claims about products, which leads to consumer dissatisfaction.

Reflecting on the insights shared by my classmates, I find advertisements are prone to false propaganda, and  prioritise profit over truth. The influence of celebrities and content creators further complicated matters as they promote products without considering the potential consequences. There is very fine line between persuasion and deception be it in life or ads...

Let's be vigilant about the ads we encounter because we hold power in shaping product values through our choices...