Each day people around the United States are exposed to an average of 1500 ads (The Ad and the Ego). Everywhere that you go advertising and the media are sure to be there. Advertising has been around for a very long time, in different kinds of forms. It may have started with just a sign on a building, stating the name of the business there and what they have to offer, but it has evolved into so much more than that. Advertising has become more than a means of informing people what is available; it is arguably the biggest influence in our lives. Advertising is one of the main, but not the only ways that our society's discontent is displayed. .
Advertising's main goal is to sell products. There are many ways to go about this, and the media exercises most all of them. Some people feel that they are not affected by advertising, but they are. The media not only advertises directly, but they also try to appeal to people on an unconscious level. "It's harder to persuade them when they"re thinking" is a great quote I picked up from the film "The Ad and the Ego" that shows just how manipulative the media can be. If the advertisements they put out can get to a person on a subconscious level, it will be much easier for a person to be persuaded and not even realize what is being done. They might not notice their discontent at first, but it will be present. A person could see an ad for any product and not think that they are being affected by any of the tactics that the media uses, but inadvertently they are being affected. Seeing thin, beautiful people in each and every commercial on TV leads the viewer to subconsciously think that they should look like that, or that everyone else in the society looks like that. This person may not realize that it was the advertising that put those views into their head, so they still feel like the media had nothing to do with it. This is exactly what I feel the media hopes to happen.