Anti Advertising Manifesto
April 4, 2008 – 2:46 pmThis manifesto is a work in progress. I decided to give it a page of its own. Check it out there for the most current revision.
Advertising is the language of want. It communicates our lack. It plays on our fears and frustrations–the desire for a mate, the fear of death, our hectic and busy schedules. It tells us that a product can increase our chances of finding a spouse, prevent us from pain, or alleviate stress. It tries to convince us that a product can make our lives better.
The global advertising industry spends hundreds of millions of dollars every year to get us to buy into their messages and it has drastically affected our lives in a negative way. So what if life existed without the endless drumming of marketers and billboards, and subliminal messages? Would we be happier, more peaceful, less tired, less fearful? I think so.
The basics
[Advertising is] the act or practice of calling public attention to one’s product, service, need, etc., esp. by paid announcements in newspapers and magazines, over radio or television, on billboards, etc.: to get more customers by advertising. [advertising]
If you look at the curriculum for most college advertising programs you’ll likely see things like Persuasive Communication, Psychology, and Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences. The idea is to teach a person to clearly understand how to present a product or service to very specific demographic groups. There are lots of different forms of advertising, from a church bulletin to a giant billboard, to a quick shot of a product logo in a movie. Some of them are innocuous, but some are coy and manipulative.
I don’t want to address the little stuff. What I’d really like to get at is the “dark-side” of advertising, how it’s affecting our culture, and what a person can do about it.
The Dark Side
Advertising Exploits Consumers
Advertisers would like us to think that they really care about us; that their product was born out of a desire to help us in our plight; to heal our hurts; to boost our self-esteem. But when it comes down to it, they really just want our money and they’ll say anything to get it.
Like most folks, I’ve been absolutely in love with the Campaign for Real Beauty by Dove. That is until I realized that Unilever, the very same company that created the campaign, is also the brainchild of Axe, which blatantly perpetuates the kinds of lies that the Campaign for Real Beauty is trying to undo. Unilever is playing us. And I thought Dove was such a great company…
Advertising Damages Self-Esteem
These days everything is Photoshopped: skin always clear, eyes always bright, golden hair, ample breasts, skinny as can be. It’s all fake. And yet it seems that even though women know this they still want to be it. Why? Because advertising tells us that we can’t possibly be okay without some type of product or service. Women subconsciously believe that that if their skin is not clear they are ugly. They believe that if they are not a 36C they’ll never get married. Men are led to believe that if they don’t “dress to kill” they’ll never get a date. And if they don’t wield the latest drill or truck or gadget that they’re not actually a man. How could anyone be truly satisfied with themselves in spite of all this?
Advertising Creates a False Perception of Beauty
What once would have been beautiful or sexy is now just bad porn. Of course Hollywood is partly to blame, but I’d say advertising is at fault too. They’ve created a false image of beauty by highlighting our perceived human “shortcomings.” Look how common breast implants and tummy tucks are. See how well the porn industry is doing. Oh and Viagra. Why do you think erectile dysfunction is so prevalent anyway? It’s likely due to this false beauty that has been so popularized by marketers. Frankly, I’m sick of fake plastic skin, big perky breasts, size zero waist and gleaming white teeth. Bring back the imperfection!
Advertising Breeds a Controlling Society
We’ve established that advertising often plays up our fears and shortcomings. Well, when the poor consumer finally starts to believe the lies they’ll do what all the other consumers do: get proactive. The thinking goes like this: “What will happen to my family if I die? Well I can secure their future by purchasing an insurance policy.” That’s right, control the future. Doesn’t it sound noble? Here’s another one: “People might judge me by how I look. If I dress in the best clothes and newest fashions all that will change.” Way to control, just like they want you to. I could go on and on about it but the fact of the matter is that the advertising industry wants you to take control of your life by purchasing stuff. That can’t be good for society.
Promotes immorality
As a Christian I find that the messages being communicated in most advertising undermine my faith. The bible is clear about advertising, actually: You shall have no other gods before me; You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below; You shall not covet.
When I see an advertisement for the Dodge Charger I want it and I feel bad that I’m driving a 1989 Toyota Pickup with a missing window. I have broken one of the 10 Commandments by coveting. I wonder if a woman who cannot go a single day without putting on makeup has made Clairol a god. She has such devotion to her makeup that she will feel awful and ugly if she does not put it on.
Detracts from the earths natural beauty
I remember growing up in Page, Arizona with the beautiful Lake Powell as its backdrop. One year someone decided to put up HUGE billboards along the highway on the way in. Luckily nobody has ever put anything on them, but I remember what a sore thumb even the structures were. Here is this beautiful red sandstone mesa steadied under an ocean of deep blue western skies, adorned with cacti, and tumbleweeds, and the scaffolding of towering black billboards, unused. They ruin the view.
Creates extra waste
What do you do with the reams of paper advertisements you receive in the mail or on your porch each day? If you’re like me I just throw it away. I don’t look at it. I barely touch it before it hits the trash can. What a waste of resources. How many trees were cut down for that advertising campaign that I just pitched? Enough said.
What am I going to do about it?
Well I’m not one to just sit around and do nothing. With all these arguments regarding the complete over-saturation of advertising in this world today there must be something one can do, right? I can tell you one thing that I can’t do, as tempting as it is, would be to engage in destructive anti-advertising tactics, such as graffiti (among other things). I would love to slap anti-advertising stickers on billboards but I just can’t justify it. Someone paid for that, and it’s against the law.
So what’s a guy to do to, at the very least, make a difference in his own personal life? I’ve got a few thoughts.
No TV
I admit that this is something I’m already doing. We don’t even own a TV let alone watch shows on one. But for those of you who do have a television maybe it’s time to consider giving the old boob-tube the boot. Think about all the time you’ll free up and all the senseless product-peddling you’ll be avoiding.
Ad-free blog
Okay, okay. I concede that it’s a pretty big step to get rid of TV. But here’s an alternative that is quite a bit easier. It’s with great pleasure that I’ve decided make this is an Ad-Free Blog. No Google. I don’t want to see the ads in my sidebar. I don’t do paid blogging anymore. I just can’t justify perpetuating all the damage that its done. I urge you to do the same.
Pay for services
I know it sounds weird, but in the “Age of Free” that we’re in now, it seems like a great alternative to actually pay for services. But what does paying for a service have to do with advertising? As you can guess, companies like Google aren’t making a living giving stuff like Gmail away for free. They’re making a living on the advertisements that they’re selling folks. Those advertisements are in essence, the price of the “free” service.
Unfinished business
There are a couple of other points that I wanted to get to, but honestly I’ve been sitting on this post for a long time now and I just want to get it out for folks to read. With that in mind I present the following unfinished points as your homework to think about critically:
Advertising Promotes Mass (over) Consumption
“The industry is accused of being one of the engines powering a convoluted economic mass production system which promotes consumption.” — Wikipedia
“a report released by the Kaiser Family Foundation in February 2004 which suggested that food advertising targeting children was an important factor in the epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States of America.” — Wikipedia
Manipulative
“The clearest example is television, where broadcasters try to make the public stay for a long time in a mental state that encourages spectators not to switch the channel during advertisements. Programs that are low in mental stimulus, require light concentration and are varied best for long sitting times. These also make for much easier emotional transition to ads, which are occasionally more entertaining than the regular shows.” — Wikipedia
Also see Derren Brown , It Just Seems Sort of Weird, Controlling Peoples Minds
Sources
“advertising.” Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 28 Feb. 2008.
7 Responses to “Anti Advertising Manifesto”
This is very strange. I’m very much reminded of this comic book of Chinese proverbs I once read when I was young. I don’t know exact saying but to elaborate, it went something like this. There was this soldier during a huge battle. He was too scared of getting hurt so he decided to run away. When he was about 500 yards away from the battle, he noticed another guy running away few yards ahead of him. He yelled out ‘you chicken #$@$!’ and other foul language even though he himself was just as fearful, running away. I’m sure there’s something similar in Western language.
So in other words, you wrote an article denouncing advertisement, even saying how it goes against the Christianity, yet when you look at it from a distance, they are exactly same. Here’s some examples.
Let’s look at your basics. Act of calling public attention to one’s product … to get more customers. What would you call missionaries going out to spread the words of God? What would you call TV and newspaper advertisements of church, Christianity in general, or bible?
Act of calling public attention to turn more people into Christians.
Now let’s look at some of your Dark Side examples.
- Advertising Exploits Consumers.
This should be Christianity’s forte. Through many commercials I’ve seen and the big neon sign at the church I drive by everyday, I’m reminded of my pain, my suffering, and how God can help. It reminds people of their unhappiness and gives God as a solution. Now you will say ‘but church doesn’t want your money.’ And yes, that’s partly true. But still, who does expansion of Christianity benefit? Christians of course. They get their rewards in heaven for saving others, pastors get to become more popular and build bigger church, offerings increase, and they get to influence the community more to their ways. So basically, the bottom line is the same. It exploits other people’s pain to benefit itself.
- Advertising Breeds a Controlling Society
This, now I believe is THE foundation of Christianity or any religion for that matter. There’s one thing we CANNOT predict, control, or know a thing about, and that is the life after death. So when people “finally starts to believe” what’s been said in the bible, (how if you don’t believe in God, you’ll burn in hell for all eternity) they get proactive. They accept Jesus Christ as their savior, they go to church, they pay offering and they try to save others by turning them Christian. And NOBODY can make an ABSOLUTE DEFINITE arguement against the scheme because NOBODY knows what’s after death. It’s THE ultimate pyramid scheme if you think about it.
- Promotes immorality
I don’t quite get this one. Covet = Immoral? Yes, I kind of get it. As definition says for covet, it’s to desire wrongfully. And wrong = immoral so that makes sense. But why is you desiring a better car considered covet? You have a bad car, so you wish you had a better car so you can have more comfortable drive, reduce the pain of long commute and survive more accidents through many safety features of new car so you can be still around for your wife and kids. How is that wrongful? Our entire life is pretty much based on desires. As a kid, we desire to be better and smarter than other kids. We desire to grow up like our parents. We desire to become doctors or rock stars. That’s the only thing that keeps us living. Without wanting something we don’t have, wanting to become a person we aren’t, wanting to be at a place we aren’t, what is the point of life? We go through same crap everyday. Eat, work, poop, sleep, repeat. If we don’t have anything to look forward to, we have no reason to GO forward. To say desiring something we don’t have is immoral is saying LIVING is immoral.
Well, it’s dinner time so this about wraps up my rant for today.
I’m HOPING you’ll give me an equally deep and elaborate reply for MY reply since I’d like to know your opinion on what I’ve said. There’s nothing more devastating than a short one/two liner reply with a wink at the end. 
By alejandro on Apr 4, 2008
If you want an equally direct reply we need to stick to the rules of logical discussion. In this case you’ve committed several classic logical fallacies.
First and foremost, your argument is a Red Herring. Rather than arguing about advertising you have taken my single mention of Christianity, applied it to the entire post, and then argued it as if to say that my work is not relevant because of that fact. This could also be considered Ad Hominem or Begging the Question.
However, because the point about immorality includes the reference to the Bible and to Christianity I will address your arguments for that point, but lets keep it in context. This is not an argument against or for Christianity, it simply assumes MY point of view, which is from the Christian perspective. So remember the point and my response is in the context of advertising from the Christian’s perspective.
Your definition of coveting seems reasonable but if you keep reading you’ll see that the definition also includes the following: “to wish for, esp. eagerly.” In which case, my point still stands.
Using your definition alone I’ll admit that my example was a little weak. But consider this alternative, and more realistic example: A condom advertisement which is directed at men. In Christianity sex outside of marriage is considered sin, we’ll start with that basic understanding. In some cases there are non-immoral reasons for using a condom within marriage in which case the advertisement’s appeal to sex would be okay. The other two case are 1.) a single man or 2.) a married man to desire sex with a married or unmarried woman. According to the bible, both of those cases are immoral. Thus the advertisement itself is guilty of promoting immorality. To take this argument one step further, just try and remember the last time you saw a condom advertisment targeted at married men.
And just some food for thought: it’s a well known fact that sex is often used in advertising as a means to sell products.
I will address your concerns about Christianity that you left in your comments in a separate post.
By Dustin Boston on Apr 5, 2008
re: “I would love to slap anti-advertising stickers on billboards but I just can’t justify it. Someone paid for that, and it’s against the law.”
Does “paying for it” make anything right?
You should know that some of those billboards and advertisements themselves are illegal. See these posts: http://antiadvertisingagency.com/tag/illegal-advertising
Civil disobedience has a strong place in the history of the United States (and Christianity, if that’s your thing) - be careful you don’t toss it aside too quickly.
By Steve Lambert on Apr 5, 2008
Steve I think you’re absolutely right. I certainly didn’t mean to treat the subject lightly. I’ve created a permanent home for my manifesto and I will be making changes to more thoroughly address issues like civil disobedience in greater detail.
I fully believe in civil disobedience but probably shouldn’t go into my level of participation in it here.
Thanks for your comments! I really appreciate your site and all the great work that has gone into it! I’ve certainly gained much inspiration from the material you have presented through it.
By Dustin Boston on Apr 6, 2008
well, duh!
these are just excuses to argue with you. Sure I talk about the post at hand but often times, I end up talking about you in relation to the topic. In the end, isn’t that the ultimate benefit of discussions with people different than us? To open ourselves for possibility of improvement, change, and understanding? And when I say understanding, I mean really. deep. understanding. Like put yourself in my shoes and wear it for couple years understanding. Not shallow “oh I have a black coworker so I understand what they are going through” kinda crap.
Look! I veered off again! Can you imagine me working on css? lol Anyway, I’m glad you’re shooting back more (in discussion. I don’t like you doing it in real life. :P). You were mostly defensive or accommodating in the past and I didn’t really get to see any of your serious views so I’m hoping to see more of your inner brain workings.
And thanks for that link on fallacies. I didn’t know there were names for all these argument methods. I guess debaters have lotta time on their hands.
By alejandro on Apr 7, 2008
Yeah good point Alejandro. I certainly agree. It’s really cool ’cause since you came around I’ve observed myself coming to a new level of internal honesty. When you point out a flaw in my reasoning or challenge a deeply held belief I’ve been able to really consider your points on a very deep level, which is pretty cool. It’s a level of introspection that I’m not completely familiar with.
But…I do want to keep it on topic
I think I’ve gotten a feel for your “trigger points” so I’ll give you some great discussion fodder here pretty soon. 
By Dustin Boston on Apr 7, 2008
well, whatever it is you’re cooking up, make it grand and all-encompassing.
Honestly, it’s been getting more and more difficult coming to your blog because as much as I try not to, topics and discussions really hit deep inside personally and I don’t think I can handle much more of it. I try really hard to keep it as purely intellectual discussion but you know, there are some things you just can’t casually talk about because of so much pain and suffering I’ve experienced with it. So I’ll probably make your next post a last to respond before I bid adieu to the young bostons. Gimme everything you got! 
By alejandro on Apr 7, 2008