We are currently living in a world of advertisements. They are on banners, on the streets, on our TV screen and even on our mobile devices. They tend to put emphasis on a new line of products with little to no differences in terms of functionality when compared to the old ones. I concur with the notion that such advertising is a negative development because it feeds on toxic consumerism and harms the environment.
First and foremost, consumerism is a vicious cycle of buying things you don’t really need and not using them to their potential; In other words, we throw things away while they’re still useful, having similar products as replacements. As a matter of fact, the clear victor of this are the businesses that make huge profit; meanwhile, consumers like us will only waste time and money on needless materialism. On the contrary, that spending could be spent on more meaningful pursuits such as donations to Non-profit organizations or charities. Therefore, this new form of advertisement will only encourage the public to engages in mindless materialistic obsession.
Furthermore, such advertising will diminish the overall health of our environment. Consumers will be encouraged to throw away their old products in pursuit of newer ones, thus producing more wastes than ever. For instance, that waste will go to landfills where they are burned or thrown away into the ocean. While the former will produce more greenhouse gases and pollute our air, the latter will further pollute our ocean and marine life. Hence, greedy businesses will prioritize their own profits over the environment.
To conclude, while advertising plays a pivotal role in driving economic growth, there are times when it favors business profit over the environment. It can brainwash buyers to buy useless things, throw away useful things, neglect meaningful pursuits for mindless materialism and pollute the environment. As consumers of the 21st century, we have the responsibility of regulating our own material needs and mitigating environmental damages.