Creating obsession

Nowadays, thousands of young women are psychologically pressured to conform to an image that the marketers have conjured, making life difficult for many. You! takes a look...

The first printed English ad came in 1472 in the United Kingdom, while in the United States the profession of marketing through advertisements was developed in 1841. With numerous modifications over time, currently, ways of marketing and the media, be it print or electronic, have become the driving forces that are impacting people’s lifestyle all over the world.

Various researches by psychologists and scholars show how advertising have influenced people psychologically and emotionally. There has been a long heated debate on the effects of advertising on society - surely one should understand that advertisers exaggerate a little while making campaigns, but sometimes some limits are crossed which can be harmful to a large number of people.

Beneath the advertising bane

What I gauged after trying a fairness plus anti-ageing cream, promising women a successful beauty care regime, all I got was a severe allergy all over my face. Similarly, the energy drink that I bought with the hope of strengthening my body didn’t work either, and sadly I didn’t get super powers that allowed me to make electricity as promised by the TV commercial. Precisely, everything projected in these adverts is not true.

They just play with human psychology by touching the weakest cords to sell their products. This reminds me of the 1950s, when a tobacco commercial had a macho man mascot to make smoking look attractive and a cool thing to do. This caught on, dramatically increasing the number of smokers during that time. Although, the tobacco industry must have benefitted a lot from this campaign, the consumers faced deadly consequences several years down the lane.

It is good to give positive messages to the young, to support them during their lows giving them hope and a feeling of happiness - even if it is false. But there should be a line between advertising and preying on emotions and fears to make a product a success resulting in a surge in sales.

Deceptive marketing and its evils

There is nothing wrong with making profit, and that is what good marketing is all about. And a tad of deception is not harmful when it comes to highlighting the product. But it is not fair when the advertisers indulge in massive deceptive marketing techniques taking advertisement to a dangerous level for the consumer.

Deceptive marketing is an age old concept of selling a product by deceiving millions of people through various technological advancements. Take an example of the ‘famous’ fairness cream that are a rage in countries like Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. In these countries, lighter toned skins are linked to a successful existence; better marriage options, good jobs and self confidence. If fair skin were the main ingredient of success, then everyone in countries with predominantly fair complexion would be billionaires. Such ads are not helping the majority of population but are only giving a subliminal message that darker complexions are bad - to say the least.

Judgements based on skin tones shouldn’t be encouraged by the marketers in any case. If we are not careful of what messages are given through deceptive marketing, we will see an increase in low esteem among people.

When deception invades psychology

Usually, creative departments produce ideas for advertisements and set their own standards and limits of artistic license to spread misinformation and misconceptions, as well as discontent in potential customers. Deceptive marketing compels women (especially the youth), to linger on the brink of some sort of obsession or disorder. In fact, it could even lead to ‘Body Dysmorphic Disorder’ (BDD). This is a real psychological problem where a person gets obsessed with imaginary defects in their appearance, which can be very harmful for young people.

The nuisance of deceptive marketing creates more problems for our youth which is engrossed in self-obsession. Their day starts with clinging on to their phones and cameras to take awesome selfies. This is how deceptive marketing has invaded human psychology through which a person seeks to look flawless. Basically, deceptive marketing acts as a catalyst for this ever-increasing obsession. These advertisers play on complexes and emotions of young girls, which is not helpful in any way. Even parents find it difficult to satisfy their kids in their confusing youth - when self-obsession seems to be a normal phase for them. Mirroring real and perceived shortcomings via all forms of media is not going to have a healthy effect on the new generation.

It is quite understandable that entrepreneurs want a good business, but it is also their duty to maintain market standards while keeping people’s tendencies of perceiving their advertisements in mind. Their great concepts may be messing up with someone’s ability to face the world on a daily basis.

And the deception continues...

Similarly, it does not help when the media, especially TV ads, play on the weight of people by showing successful celebrity faces with perfect bodies, skins and hair, with a side-kick who is usually fat and not-so-confident. This doesn’t mean that it is bad to stay lean and fit, but this is only good as long as one does it in a healthy way. They can rather show ways of clean eating and how to follow a healthy lifestyle.

Let’s take an example of the obsession with ‘size zero’. Surprisingly, we have seen fatal consequences of this. Young girls, especially models and actors suffer from eating disorders while trying to fit the image of a super thin, hot model. There have been cases in which models have died of bulimia and starvation. Some even resort to drugs for a perfectly thin physique that really messes with their mental state as well. All of this is an outcome of several advertising campaigns and the stereotypes that support the concept of thin and well shaped bodies.

In no way are we claiming that all ad campaigns are unproductive. There are many TV commercials which create awareness and spread useful and positive messages to the masses that are used to help societies; for example, public service messages, soap adverts promoting cleanliness, etc.

There are many people who argue that ads are not to be taken seriously for what they portray, and that it is common sense that they are meant to be exaggerated. But due to low rate of literacy and awareness, warnings issued alongside these campaigns are not very helpful. Visuals are more powerful than text and people usually ignore these disclaimers, considering them irrelevant.

Of course we can’t expect advertisement to stop, as this would create a lot of problems to market a product. But what needs to be done is to try and come up with ways where a product can be sold without deceiving and psychologically affecting people and the society as a whole.