Advertising is getting a lot of bad press nowadays. This is due to the fact that some advertisings are misleading and causes significant harm to audiences. However, the notion that all advertising should be banned is illogical in my opinion for several different reasons.
First of all, advertising is the best way to promote any product available in the marketplace. Without it, we would only know about high end products and small business would not be able to flourish. This creates a competitive environment and gives consumers multiple choices to chose from. Another unique quality of advertisement is it’s persuasion skills. Some people think advertisement is a form of creative art because it has different story arcs and storytelling techniques. It has the capability to appeal to different people in different ways. Advertising can evoke emotion and nostalgia. It is powerful enough to attract buyers and gain lifelong consumers.
On the other side, advertising can have negative sides. Some advertising trigger people’s insecurities to sell products. By showing the perfect body and perfect lifestyle, it encourages people to consume more and more in order to achieve the perfect life. Thus, it promotes consumeristic lifestyle where self-worth is tied to materials. Another negative part is that in some countries, advertisement is directly linked to state propaganda.
In conclusion, advertising has both positive and negative sides but banning it all together is not the answer. Instead, there should be stricter advertising guidelines, that ensures that it is used for positive promotion of products and those that contains negative messages should be banned for the sake of all consumers.