Does Advertisement Encourage Materialism In Society Philosophy Essay

“Living in an age of advertisement, we are perpetually disillusioned. The perfect life is spread before us every day, but it changes and withers at a touch”- J. B. Priestley. Advertisement is something that persuades an individual. This persuasion is for an action, an action to get alongside with what the advertisement display. Now what is important is to focus in the very fact that every advertisement is with purpose and again purpose is for an action, an action from the viewer, listener or reader’s side favoring that advertisement. Today every product and service in this world of globalization is in a mad race to expose them to their customers. The world is now under one roof, so thus the competition, and when we see this nature of competition we always want ourselves to be exposed to each and everyone. But how we can do that? The only answer that seems to be feasible is make good impact on the society using advertisement and society on the other hand has always been impacted because whatever we see or read always made our cognitive process to work.

Advertisement has always played an inseparable role in media. The impact is to this much extent that people sometimes start taking more interest in advertisement rather than any other things which are the sole purpose of media. But we should try realizing and analyzing the nature of this impact. We should always keep in mind the old days when the advertisements were not as dominating as they are.

Advertisement is now an inseparable part of society no matter which nation it is. It is impacting the society in many ways especially inducing a factor of not required materialism. What we have seen in now a days is the form of materialistic requirements which these advertisements bring with them. As a fact we must not forget that the world was also moving in earlier times when there were no products like today. We should also be realizing the fact that somehow these advertisements have induced a requirement to the products and services to us making us more close to the materialistic society.

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The world is now moving fast and the people don’t have enough time to think on their own, and is where these advertisements are more strongly playing its role. The people are so busy these days that they don’t have the time to take into consideration of what is of their requirements and they blindly believe in what the advertisement is showing them. Now people cannot live without cars, they are more attracted towards new watches and clothes no matter if the payment is coming from credit cards. This sense which advertisements have created in us is because we are so much prone and near to the materialistic world. People now don’t realize about what if they don’t buy them or simply they refuse to adopt them and promise themselves of finding some more alternatives but as matter of fact we are not ready to absorb this reality because we are so much blinded by the shine of this materialism through advertisements.

The world which we are seeing now is more influenced by the materialism and advertisements have played a major role in bringing this materialism to society. Now we want to have fast moving cars no matter we don’t have the real time to drive it. Now people cannot simply walk or jog to reduce weight rather they need comfort in it too, they simply wants something that should be in home helping them out to reduce weight or burning fat with the help of a belt. What is really worrying is that we don’t even realize that how we have come under the influence of the materialistic world without any slight idea because of these advertisements. People now already having a product doing fine throws out simply because the advertisements is claiming a newer product and we don’t even realize that what advertisements are meant for.

We should try to realize what these advertisements are meant for? Whether we really need anything or rather the need is been created by these advertisements? As far as the need is concerned the life would have been better without having any needs but human mind is very fragile especially in this world where we don’t have enough time to think and act according to the right. Rather we simply move by anything that is been displayed in the advertisement. We don’t realize what these advertisements have done to us.

The advertisements now create need in our life without displaying how these are being fulfilled. What they display is the need and more need. As a matter of fact we are so blinded that we can’t even see that this need is virtual or rather belonging to the materialistic world and we don’t really need them. Advertisements show that without a particular thing our life is having a gap or rather our life is incomplete. We are that much blinded that even a futile thing seems to be an essential possession to us and we are having ever growing thirst to get them in our life just because of these advertisements.

These advertisements are creating virtual life in front of us. It has created a good life image to all the people or consumers merely by showing their products and promising to have a good life the possession of them. They display how these products brings life to them and happiness is only possible with the possession of a product fading out the image of real happiness and satisfaction which comes from inner of self not by involving in this material world and its contents. Advertisements now only seem to have a major objective of creating an illusion of adding happiness to the life of the consumers.

But we what is also important is the way in which these advertisements are operating to mindset of people and how people are being attracted towards these advertisements and also why they are so much demanding for these materialism when everyone has senses. The answers to these questions lie in the fact that these advertisements are suggesting material possessions which are rather appealing to the others. The possession of those products will add to the social life of an individual and they will be more accepted in society. The advertisement creates an image that by not having a particular object one is missing something in life and that he/she is falling way back to others. Advertisements have so much dominated our life that we have already accepted that the reel life is real life. Advertisements simply shows how possessing a thing is adding to their status symbol, showing one’s accomplishment, increasing popularity etc and we have forgotten that the people who have always remembered were the one who never been to materialism of this world.

These advertisements have created a society in which moral, spiritual and social values doesn’t seem to have much weight and what seems to have weight is the possession and more possession of the things which we never required. Due to advertisements we have forgotten what real life is all about and we are so much involved in the concept of materialism that we don’t have the time to look around simply because we are been blinded by the things we see in advertisement. We drive our pleasure out of those things which are rather taking the world away from reality. The way in which these advertisements portray life in front of us seems to be the best life to us and we start thinking that may be buying that one thing might do wonder to me same like in the advertisement. We have seen how these advertisements display simply using a pen might bring knowledge to them and they will start writing in exams by their own without studying, needless to mention that these kinds of concepts are really impractical.

Our thinking power has been totally debarred by these advertisements. We don’t go for things that are cheap and can satisfy of our needs rather we go for things we have better advertisements or rather which have been projected better. We now go for brand over quality and other parameters and we should not be amazed that what we call as brands are those who claim them to be one is advertisements. The reason of us being so ignorant to the situation is the relief which these advertisements portray to us in our busy life and so we are ignoring what is reality.

The advertisement is an industry now with billions of annual turnover. This industry have some of the most talented people who are experts in reading the mind of common people and thus what they do is simply providing the people what they want to see by understanding the intricacies of their life and thus manage to sale the things which are nothing but a part of materialistic world.

Although advertisements brings knowledge to various things which might be essential but what is more to be wondered is the fact that most of them have never shown a real picture and never taught us of the values which are essential in life. We are now so much into the materialism that we have forgotten who we are actually and how the world is on brotherhood rather than excelling over your brothers. We have forgotten about the world, helping each other, thinking of the environment rather we are more interested in having fasting moving cars, expensive watches, latest fashion. Thanks to advertisements which have made our life dependent on momentarily satisfaction.

We have been made stereotypy to think and act in the same way by these advertisements. Think of the world where we won’t be in the need of anymore fast moving cars, fat burning belts, expensive watches etc. won’t we be able to sustain and carry on in life? Won’t our desires will be less? Won’t our presence in materialistic world will be less? For sure our life would be more of ours without having any exposure to materialism and that will be a life when we will start caring more about the things which are rather more real and not illusionary, the life in which we will have time for ourselves and where we will attain for a higher and longer level of satisfaction. That satisfaction will be more enjoyable than those momentarily joys which this advertisement world display to us as with even a common sense one can judge what is real and what is virtual but it is not wondering that people have even loss their common sense just because these advertisements has acted like an web in which people are lost like an insect.

On a critical note we should not forget that the advertisements are with a reason and the only common reason to increase their sale. Also we must not forget that the world of advertisement is created by those who were lost in their world of materialism and to satisfy their materialistic need they want common people to get involve same like they did and thus begins a mad race to satisfy virtual needs.

We should also not forget the advertisement have not always been to attract consumer , some advertisement comes with knowledge and awareness also but the thing is that we are rather more interested in the former just because we have been created with a need which are rather useless if we grow ourselves morally and spiritually. Advertisements have always created a false image of the world in front of us. We have forgotten to distinguish between what is real and virtual, between useful and useless, between right and wrong etc. They portray how life is not cool without expensive cars, how smoking makes you independent free bird and how drinking makes you mature etc.