Advertising blog 9

We talked about advertising in class, and if the messages they send do or do not affect how we think. A lot of people got upset at the thought that advertising effects how they think, but if you think about it; it does affect us greatly. If you look back to even the early 1900’s advertising had an effect on what was bought, what was thought, and what was worn. The propaganda that was used did influence people’s thinking. During WWII they had posters about car pooling, about how evil Japan and Germany were, and to buy war bonds. People believed these advertisements and propaganda so strongly that even today you can see the effects of them. After WWII, there was the McCarthyism that struck the country. McCarthy was a senator that tried anyone who was different and said that they were communists. There was propaganda up about that and people freaked out. This continued until McCarthy attacked the U.S. Army; causing him to be discredited. I know that people want to think that they are totally independent, but they’re not.
Even now we have advertisements that shape our way of thinking. Just think about the concept of beauty. In Marylyn Monroe’s time, a beautiful woman was considered to have big hips and big breasts. Later on it became a skinny woman with no hips or breasts. Now it is a skinny woman with large breasts but no hips. You want to know how you can tell the tastes have changed? Just look at who the famous models are now. They have gotten that way from advertising. All of the latest styles come from Italy usually, right; those styles come here and presto, instant attractiveness change. It is amazing. How do you think you want to wear Abercrombie and finch? You see sexy people in those clothes and it goes to your mind that, “Hey, if I dress like that then I will be coo and sexy too.” Why else would you pay almost 100 dollars for ONE pair of jeans that are going to fall apart soon anyways?