Why Advertising sucks

ADVERTISING SUCKS

www.copywritercollective.com

Although it’s difficult for me to face up to the

fact that I’ve wasted the last twenty years of

my life I have finally come to this very sorry

realization. At best it’s completely superficial

while at worst it’s positively damaging.

LET’S FACE ITADVERTISING SUCKS


IN PRINT TODAY, IN THE BIN TOMORROW

How many times can you wrack your brains for

an idea, see it through to production and then

have it completely forgotten among the

thousands and millions of other ads that appear

every day? And, come on, most of the ideas we

come up with are just rehashing stuff that’s

been done before aren’t they?


WORKING ON A PRODUCTION LINE

We all like to kid ourselves that

because advertising is called a

‘creative industry’ we’re just one

step away from being artists and

having our work immortalized as

though some great contribution to

mankind’s collective awareness. But

we’re not really artists. We’re just

factory workers pumping out

derivative ideas that nobody really

cares about.


At the end of the day our job is to encourage people

to buy more stuff whether they need it or not. And

the more that people buy the more they throw away.

We are contributing to a throwaway culture and

heading toward the time when the world will be one

huge landfill site. (And it’s not just the land we have

to worry about. There are also horrendous

phenomena like The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

TURNING THE WORLD INTO A GARBAGE DUMP

WASTING NATURAL RESOURCES. GENERATING POLLUTINON.


The other consequence of stimulating

consumption, of course, is the destruction of

the earth’s valuable natural resources. All those

products we’re encouraging people to buy are

using up irreplaceable raw materials while the

production processes (not to mention the end

products) are generating more and more

pollution. Without exaggerating, we’re talking

the end of the world here.

CHANGING CULTURE


Even more scary than changing the environment is the

fact that advertising is actually changing the way people

think. Instead of being satisfied with just having enough

to live on people are now driven by the messages they

see all around them to want more than they ever needed

before. Not only that, but to envy those who already have

more. It creates a nasty, me-me-me society that I, for

one, don’t want to be part of.


And we’re not just talking about the effect on adults

here. At least they have the opportunity – though

rarely taken – to say No and change their ways. But

kids don’t have that facility. Bombarded by

advertising telling them what’s cool and what’s not

they are strapped into the consumer gravy train

almost from birth, taking away much of the innocence

of childhood. Then there’s the

increasing sexualisation of childhood that’s especially

encouraged by fashion advertising which most right

minded people find absolutely abhorrent.

DESTROYING CHILDREN’S LIVES


The worst thing about advertising and all the bad

things it’s responsible for is that you simply have no

escape from it. In most other aspects of life people

can choose the way they want to live but advertising

is everywhere. In every magazine and newspaper, on

every street, on every website and in between every

TV programme it’s there, constantly nagging,

constantly manipulating the way we think – whether

we like it or not. And never believe someone who

says “I’m not influenced by advertising”. We all are.

NO ESCAPE

Advertising is nothing short of brainwashing and,

while I too can’t escape seeing it all around, I can at

least say ‘enough is enough’ and stop contributing to

its seemingly unstoppable growth.

THANK YOU

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Why Advertising sucks

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Transcript of Why Advertising sucks