The Effect of Advertisers

With so much product placement and advertising in our world we must step back and determine if it's all for the greater good. When I say the greater good, I don't mean who will go to heaven or anything like that. My approach, is advertising really necessary today and has it caused more harm than good? In Layouts and Illustrations by John Caples, he states, "They (the advertisers) want to jar the readers and stop them on the spot - to rouse them and stir them to action." A great example I can think of is Sarah McLaughlin and her ads about donating to the Humane society. The objective is to make you feel bad for the abuse animals they show and in this form of advertising it is appropriate. Similar ads that come to mind like this one would be donating to other relief organizations helping victims in Japan and Haiti. However, on the other end of the spectrum are advertisements like commercials to buy you products for your personal care or promoting some sort of good or service. In these commercials or ads, the consumer or promoter is generally famous and good looking, giving off this sense that if you use this product or service, you will look and feel like that person. Much like how Layouts and Illustrations is trying to show that these types of ads are not healthy for our country which have led it to consist mostly of consumers. A country full of consumers socially, economically and environmentally are dangerous for they care only how people see them and will do anything to be at their best whether that be spending money or driving a fancy SUV. It's time we switched the habit and became more independent than dependent on things we do not need.