Advertising, as deceptive as it may be, still plays a big role in our society. Advertising is supposed to give you information on products / services for the consumer’s benefit. When looked at from all points of view (as a consumer) advertising is really a big scam. A scam that tries to elude, deceive, and persuade the consumer into thinking something is what it is not. Yes, it is true that there are going to be products / services that are better in quality, but 99. 9% of advertising is not used for that purpose.
Advertising will give you some background on a specific product / service (0. 1%) and then it will try to “sell” you the product (the other 99. 9%).
All of Americans have always had their own sense of the American Dream.
Advertising tries to grab onto that and make you believe that their product / service is one that will allow you to be closer to that desire of the perfect setting (The American Dream).
As a consumer I think this is ridiculous, and I believe that most other consumers would agree. I cannot even count the times I have come home from making a purchase on a product that was advertised to be the best of the best, and costs the most, only to return to the store angered and ready for my money back. The only real way of discovering a products durability and quality is to purchase it. Deciding a purchase based only on an advertisement is something that is done by the oblivious consumer that has been caught up in all of society’s set standards. Everywhere you look there is some sort of advertising, no matter if it is on a product, a service, or even for revenue.
You cannot get away from it. Although advertising is helpful to all businesses, is it being used fairly? Why does this country give so much power to something that basically controls certain aspects of our lives? I believe there is a saying in business, “the costumer is always right.” What puzzles me is when a product is not satisfactory to the consumer, for whatever reason, and wants a refund, the retailer is sometimes angered. Why should they be? What are we to think when a product / service is advertised as if it were a piece of heaven, and ends up to be far less? It does not make much sense to me, but as long as people keep allowing their “picture perfect” world be depicted by advertising, then there will always be a place for it.