Two birds with one stone

The following is my final writing assignment, besides my final exam, for my current English class. As I was writing it I chuckled to myself as it pertains to the video : The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard that I had been thinking on earlier in the week. I am not sure if I have already endorsed this video in this blog, but even if I did it's worth a second mention. Enjoy the video, criticize the writing, and have a great week.

(sorry about the crazy alignment, I hope it's readable, I copied it from my Word program)

War Zone

We are in a war, and most of us are blissfully unaware of it. Every day we are

bombarded by images, slogans, and propaganda convincing us that we are in a great and

dire need for some product. We are constantly barraged by marketing techniques, so

much so, that we do not even notice it anymore.

My first experience with this battle came when I was eleven years old. My mother

and I went shopping for new bathing suits. I found a bright red one piece with the cursive

curly script of Coca-Cola running all through it. I loved it; it appealed to all of my

senses. My mother, thinking nothing of it, bought it for me. I wore that bathing suit

proudly for about three weeks. Then, one summer day, we were going swimming. We

had to make a stop at my grandparent’s house first. I proudly flounced in, in my red

Coca-Cola bathing suit covered only by a pair of cut-off jean shorts. My grandfather

took one look at me, and then promptly chastised my mother for allowing me to be a free

walking billboard. I barely understood what he was talking about, but I clearly remember

not liking my bathing suit after that.

That scene from my childhood has stuck with me. Every time I make a clothing

purchase, I am extremely conscientious of where and how the logo appears. It seems that

these days you can not get away from this branding of advertisers. They “stamp” us with



their logos, and then we in turn judge, label, and congregate with people according to

these labels. We have yet to realize that the values we share with someone should matter,

not the brands we choose to buy.

Marketers have a moral obligation to stray away from propaganda techniques.

Ann McClintock states in an essay she wrote, that, “Propaganda is not necessarily

concerned with what is true or false, good or bad. Propagandists simply want people to

believe the messages being sent” (270). McClintock goes on to share a study which

found that five hundred advertising claims barrage each of us during an average

day(271). If we have five hundred messages battling our senses everyday there should be

truth in them. Advertisers are subtly lying to us, manipulating our senses for their own

greed; the sad part is we are letting them. In the first paragraph of McClintock’s essay

she speaks of the brainwashing that marketers use to bomb us with images. She also

states that even those of us that know better, that know what is going on, allow these

messages to permeate our subconscious (270). Why would we do this? “They work

because they appeal to our emotions, not to our minds” (275), McClintock explains.

We, adults, should know better. We are educated, informed, and can rationally

make, or not make, our own decisions. However, children do not have all the tools yet to

make their own prudent decisions. Marketers have latched on to a new target group, even

coming up with their own name for these individuals, tweens (Hymowitz 203). Kay

Hymowitz asserts that, these are children between the ages of eight to twelve who are

“leaning more and more toward teen styles, teen attitudes, and, sadly, teen behavior at its



most troubling” (203). Instead of projecting clean, innocent fun at these children,

advertisers are capitalizing on their desire to look and act older. Hymowitz declares,

marketers have found in their research, “that by the time they are twelve, children

describe themselves as flirtatious, sexy, trendy, athletic, and cool. . . scorning any

symbols of their immaturity” (203).

These advertisers have a choice. They can target their ads to these children, and

teach them morals and values accepted by society. Or, they can continue to exploit these

tweens’ confusion of themselves, and drive them to want more of the advertiser’s

products in order to achieve the “cooldom” that the tweens are longing for.

Unfortunately, the marketer’s decision for exploitation harms these children more

than they understand. Hymowitz goes on to explain that younger children are having

more adult problems; one of these is eating disorders. She determined that this stems

from a “pre-mature fashion-consciousness” (205). Their young, confused minds, in order

to fit in and be cool, are harming their bodies to meet the standard for normal the media

and marketers portray. Hymowitz contends that due to parents not being around as much,

and a “sexualized and media-driven marketplace,” parental influence is lessening. This

makes these tweens susceptible and defenseless to peer pressure in order to conform

(206).

Marketers and advertisers could alleviate these problems with clear cut guidelines

towards advertising to children. The problem with this is there are no clear cut child and

adult worlds anymore. Our children are exposed to everything. I challenge you to watch a




recent, media-hyped, blockbuster movie meant as family entertainment, and not find very

adult hidden references hidden throughout it. Marketers place these barbs in family

movies so parents will want to take their children; so everyone will have a good time.

The problem is the more intuitive children pick up on them. These children, striving to be

more adult-like, then carry these ideas to school and inflict them upon other children.

Now these children who are inflicted upon feel the pressure to grow up and fit in,

completing a very vicious circle.

The real solution to these issues would simply be the truth. If companies would

spend their money on creating a better product they would not need to invest billions of

dollars in the corrupt advertising sect; their product would speak for itself. Instead of

trying to manipulate the general public with their invasive tactics and evasive maneuvers,

try to bombard us with something worth buying. Unfortunately, too many companies feel

that if they create a superior product they would lose money. In fact, what these

companies fail to realize is, in creating something of worth, they would garner a loyal fan

base.

We, adults also, need to create our own solutions. We need to stop allowing

propagandists from taking advantage of our lazy selves. We have to research the claims

brought on by advertisers, and not allow them to make our decisions. “Otherwise, we

have consented to handing over to others our independence of thought and action” (275),

as McClintock so aptly put it. That will be construed as a victory for the other side.



Works Cited

Hymowitz, Kay S. “Tweens: Ten Going on Sixteen.” The Longman Reader 8th ed. Eds.
Judith Nadell, John Langan, and Eliza A. Comodromos. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2007: 202-206

McClintock, Ann. “Propaganda Techniques in Today’s Advertising.” The Longman
Reader 8th ed. Eds. Judith Nadell, John Langan, and Eliza A. Comodromos. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2007: 270-275