All Forms of Advertising Should Be Banned.
I do not believe that all forms of advertising should be banned. They should only be banned if they are offensive, derogatory, inappropriate, misleading, stereotypical, distasteful, controversial or discriminatory. The definition of an advertisement is "an announcement about something in a newspaper, poster or on radio and television". If all forms of advertising were banned charities would not be able to increase support on such a large scale, as many people often find out about new charities they wish to support by reading about them or seeing advertisements on the television.
In this essay I am going to refer to several examples of advertising, which can be found at the end, to show what I think is an unacceptable standard of advertising.
One of the most controversial advertisements that has recently been shown is for the Land Rover Freelander. The image depicts a Himba woman from Namibia in traditional dress, which consists of a skirt made of various pieces of material wrapped around her waist and what looks like a leather bag or pouch with a shoulder strap and a naked upper body. This advertisement brought an outcry from Women's Rights Groups, Human Rights Groups and the Advertising Standards Authority, as it is sexist, racist and tasteless. The computer manipulation of her body is very degrading and pokes fun at her culture, traditions and way of dress. The fact that her breasts seem involuntarily, sexually drawn towards the Land Rover Freelander is an example of exploitation of the way she dresses, as Land Rover would probably not have found another woman who naturally walks around half-naked. As she is a tribes woman and most probably very poor all she can do is yearn for the car, for she will never be able to have it. This is shown in her expression as she looks longingly after the car. In her expression there is also a sense of non-understanding. This implies that women or racial minorities do not comprehend the power and greatness of cars or engines, it is stereotyping women and racial minorities. In a world where equality is sought by a large number of women and racial minorities, it is a subject that has always to be taken into consideration. In this advertisement the producers have not contemplated the reaction of the public. It was meant to be humorous but it provides a very cheap laugh at the expense of the Himba tribes woman.
I do not believe that all forms of advertising should be banned. They should only be banned if they are offensive, derogatory, inappropriate, misleading, stereotypical, distasteful, controversial or discriminatory. The definition of an advertisement is "an announcement about something in a newspaper, poster or on radio and television". If all forms of advertising were banned charities would not be able to increase support on such a large scale, as many people often find out about new charities they wish to support by reading about them or seeing advertisements on the television.
In this essay I am going to refer to several examples of advertising, which can be found at the end, to show what I think is an unacceptable standard of advertising.
One of the most controversial advertisements that has recently been shown is for the Land Rover Freelander. The image depicts a Himba woman from Namibia in traditional dress, which consists of a skirt made of various pieces of material wrapped around her waist and what looks like a leather bag or pouch with a shoulder strap and a naked upper body. This advertisement brought an outcry from Women's Rights Groups, Human Rights Groups and the Advertising Standards Authority, as it is sexist, racist and tasteless. The computer manipulation of her body is very degrading and pokes fun at her culture, traditions and way of dress. The fact that her breasts seem involuntarily, sexually drawn towards the Land Rover Freelander is an example of exploitation of the way she dresses, as Land Rover would probably not have found another woman who naturally walks around half-naked. As she is a tribes woman and most probably very poor all she can do is yearn for the car, for she will never be able to have it. This is shown in her expression as she looks longingly after the car. In her expression there is also a sense of non-understanding. This implies that women or racial minorities do not comprehend the power and greatness of cars or engines, it is stereotyping women and racial minorities. In a world where equality is sought by a large number of women and racial minorities, it is a subject that has always to be taken into consideration. In this advertisement the producers have not contemplated the reaction of the public. It was meant to be humorous but it provides a very cheap laugh at the expense of the Himba tribes woman.