Essays

We come across different types of advertisements in our day-to-day life, They have invaded every aspect of our day-to-day dealings, our conversations, our thoughts and to a certain extent even control our behaviour as customers and consumers of goods, and services. Advertisements stare and scream at us from every street corner, every newspaper, every magazine, every hoarding, every stall or shop or showroom to walls of every public building, vehicle, radio and television. They don't even spare our computer screens when all we are interested in is checking our mails or even simply browsing through- The world has suddenly become advertisement conscious, so much so, that at night the city lights up with thousands of neon glow signs proclaiming, capturing and demanding our attention.

Advertisements have crept even into smaller and insignificant things of our life. For everything from education to career building to buying a soap or a mobile, one has to rely upon advertisements- Nothing it seems can be achieved without advertisements- They are the ones that tell us what soap to use, which biscuit to eat, what brand to wear, sun glasses to use, pens to write with, toys to play with etc. An effective advertisement can zoom the sale of even a third-rate and useless commodity. No business, trade or transaction can flourish without proper advertising and marketing. It is these advertisements that bring products within the notice of general public. Today lakhs of money, even crores, are spent in preparing two or three minutes of an advertisement.

The art of advertisement is of course a modern blessing but it has reached and touched all possible heights. It has touched all the aspects of modern complexities and has complicated man's life more. For even a simple pencil there are infinite options which don't provide a child with any solution but rather confuse him all the more. Myriads of products work up man's brain, play havoc with his pocket and assault his peace of mind. It is because of these advertisements that a whole new field of career and businesses have opened up. The branch of marketing solely depends upon this recent art of advertising along with other components. Advertisers exercise their imagination, feel the pulse of the people, what touches or tickles them and what captures their mind and then create a whole new tantalizing world of fantasy, glamour and unreality to sell off real things, in fact, advertisers and advertisements play and encash upon the psychology of people in order to achieve their ends.

Even cinema has been affected by advertisements. What we call as trailers of movies or publicity of a movie, is nothing but its advertisement to bring audience to the theatre- In this age of tough competition, one cannot survive without popularizing one's business, product, institution. It is then that advertisements come to one's aid. It is through advertisements that people can popularize their business, talent, product or commodity- Without advertising, the world refuses to acknowledge the presence of a thing in today's context. The sale of goods today depends upon the kind of advertising that backs it. The hike in sales depends upon the kind or quality of advertisement prepared to promote it. Does it cater to the needs of the people, does it capture the attention of the target audience, is it successful in transmitting its message and is it successful in drawing the audience to its product, compelling them to buy it.

But it is being seen these days that some advertisements are gradually crossing over from artistic sensibility and creativity to shabbiness, puerility and sometimes even indecency which hurts a person's artistic sensibility and aesthetic sense. Advertisements should be made with great care as they are seen by all—men, women and children alike. Sometimes children try to imitate what they have seen without realizing that they are breaking the code of conduct. Women too are portrayed indecently many a times. Moreover, even the public too needs to be vigilant in their watching of advertisements or reading of them. They should stop buying products which have cheap or double-meaning slogans or are being made without keeping in mind the social norms and morality. If used with sense, advertisements can prove to be entertaining as well as educative.