Have you ever been tricked into purchasing merchandise that claims it will make you look more appealing but never really does you any justice? Throughout the years, our nation has been deceived by thousands and thousands of advertisements per year. Advertisers have increased their earnings from $20 billion in 1979 to $180 billion in 1999, which only caused more advertisements to be displayed and more people to become influenced by them (Killing Us Softly). These advertisements do not only influence us to purchase these products, but they cause us to stereotype the classification of "beauty" and "the ideal person" (Sexual Stereotypes in the Media). Advertisements are harmful to society because they portray stereotypical images of self- beauty and self-worth, causing individuals to feel insecure about themselves and consume more products in order to gain self-confidence. The certain individuals that are affected by these ads are women, men, and teenagers. In order for society to refrain from overconsumption and feeling insecure, advertisers must stop setting an ideal image of "true beauty" and providing false information in their advertisements. Although this solution may not be put in effect, society must be aware of these false advertisements and prevent them from affecting their decisions.
Advertisements constantly display images of women that are skinny, tall, and wear a lot of makeup, which causes women to consume more products in order to boost their confidence and look like "the ideal woman". For example, in the film Killing Us Softly, Kilbourne explains that advertisers are constantly utilizing images of women's breasts, no matter if the ad is relating to beauty products or a product that has nothing to do with the women such as an ad of a fishing net or a sports car. Some business corporations might argue that utilizing women in ads simply catches the audience's attention and is a creative way to sell a product.