Reflections on Advertising

Advertising has a huge impact on our culture. We are exposed to it on a daily basis. When you stop and think about it, it really is insane just how much advertising there is! With new technologies, marketers find new ways to advertise. In fact, I discovered one of them the today. I went grocery shopping with my three year old son at Stop & Shop and I thought it would be fun to let him use the Scan-It device. If you haven't seen it, it looks like this: 

You bring the Scan-It device with you, along with empty bags, and you scan items as you go. It's a good way to keep track of your budget as you shop and save time at the check-out. It's also a good learning experience for little kids because as they scan they can read out numbers and gain some math/budgeting skills. It also occasionally makes a loud CHUH-CHING noise and suggests items that you should buy. I generally ignore it, but oh boy did it work on my son! Every time the thing made it's cash register noise he frantically announced "Mom! It says we need to buy crackers! Come on!"

That is just one specific example, but there are so many new and creative ways that marketers are getting into our brains. Computers especially have ads everywhere, and they actually use your search history and interests to suggest products to you that you would like.

Personally, my opinion on advertising is fairly neutral. Its not that I don't care either way, its really more that I consider it a grey area with both pros and cons. On one hand, I feel that laws that stop marketers from lying and being intentionally deceptive are important. On the other hand, I believe that marketers should have the right to influence people into buying their products, and its up to the consumer to research and be educated.

I'd like to pretend that advertising doesn't affect me, but it certainly does. I am fairly well informed on the deceptive and ambiguous terms that marketers love to use so much. I tend to make sure to read ingredient labels rather than trust the "healthy" and "natural" labels. I usually research a product and it's reviews rather than just trusting commercials. However, I love trying new things so when I see a new product advertised... well... I want it! 

I think that, in general, we have pretty good laws regarding what kind of language advertisers can use. I do think there are some changes that need to be made. For example, I think "all-natural" should be a regulated term, just like "organic" is. There should be a set of requirements for what can be described as all-natural. As it is, that word is frequently misused. Technically, anything originating from the planet Earth can be described as "natural." Arsenic and cyanide are "natural" depending on how you define the term. Organic describes a specific type of farming, so I think that all-natural needs a similar set of guidelines. I think we need more regulation on products that are being marketed as healthy and nutritious. I got my kids' chocolate milk the other day as a treat and the bottle said "delicious and nutritious." It had 27g of added sugar; that is NOT nutritious (but it was totally delicious). Finally, I believe that GMO foods should be labeled. I don't think vegetables should be advertised as vegetables when they are actually Frankenfoods.