Right off the bat I just want to say that you either clicked on this article because, like me, you buy things impulsively because they look pretty and you need a new little trinket every week to obsess over. Either that, or you just hate ads popping up on your feed all the time. If you’re the latter, how does it feel to be free from the excruciating grip of capitalism? All jokes aside, ads are actually the worst thing to exist. It enables us, impulsive buyers, to keep spending money each and every month; and, while it might be good for the economy, it leaves our pockets empty.
And I know, I know it’s the only way that companies and brands can promote their products and make people buy them, but man do they have their ways. Yesterday, you didn’t need those knee-high boots, but that ad you saw on Instagram today of Bella Hadid wearing them told you otherwise.
Large companies employ a vast array of methods to get you to buy things you don’t really need. One of the ways they do this is by showing you possible scenarios that could occur if you don’t have a certain product, and how that situation could go so much better if you did. Like, how you need the new Blender Supreme 3000 (yes, I just made up that name) because your old blender (which probably works just fine) makes too much noise and wakes up your neighbors at 5 am when you decide to make your morning smoothie. But alas! The Blender Supreme 3000 is a quiet blender (gasp!).
Don’t even get me started on the tactic they pull every year where they’ll literally sell you the same exact product, but the only difference is that it comes in an “alpine green” color and you just have to have it… I’m looking at you, Apple.
Apart from the fancy colors or oddly funny scenarios that actually never even happen, advertisements sell you the dream of becoming the person you want to be and looking the way you want to look by buying certain products or subscriptions. If you buy the new push-up bras from Victoria’s Secret, you’ll feel sexy and unstoppable. If you buy a Peloton bike, you’ll be the symbol of fitness and health, and so on. To be completely honest here, sometimes buying things does feel good…for the first week. Eventually you’ll realize that the push-up bra is just a bra, that a peloton bike is just an exercise machine, and that you are now broke. But, sometimes you actually do need some of the things you buy and it’s also okay to splurge from time to time. The message I’m trying to convey here though is that we should always be mindful of the things we purchase and how much money we spend on these things.
Another way companies get into our heads is actually kind of creepy. Have you ever wondered how every social media platform knows exactly what to advertise to each person and at what moment to do so? Sometimes, it might even be an ad promoting something you were talking about the day before. Well, we kind of all signed up for this. Right when we “accepted all cookies” and unknowingly let our apps share data with each other on things we watch, like, and search for. Some people have gone on to say that our phones could even be listening in on our conversations. I mean, how else are they going to know that you desperately wanted to get your nails done, or the fact that you’re going on a trip in the near future? I honestly don’t know if these claims are entirely true, but they do serve as a precautionary tale either way.
Remember how I said that if Bella Hadid wore knee-high boots, you’d probably wear them too? Well, this is yet another way of getting us to buy things. If Bella Hadid looks stunning wearing that, I must too. If I want to look like her, I have to dress like her. This last sentence is the most important one of this whole paragraph actually. If I want to look like them, I have to dress like them. I have to eat what they eat, do what they do, have what they have, and dress the way they dress. I have to become them. This is actually very dangerous for young children. It amplifies self-hatred and bitterness in their hearts when they can’t buy certain articles of clothing that their favorite celebrity wears; or when they do so, they still don’t look how they want to look. It creates a false narrative of being able to buy a certain lifestyle. On the other hand, some people might feel that, since a celebrity promoted a product and approved it, it must be good. They get you to believe that said person looks that way because they use said product when the reality in most cases is quite the opposite.
Regardless of all these schemes I’ve mentioned, the worst part about ads is that they’re literally EVERYWHERE. We actually can’t escape them. They’re in the back of cereal boxes, in newspapers, TV, streaming services, public transportation, magazines, social media, YouTube, billboards, music videos, etc. They’re a constant reminder to consume more. They give you a new product to look forward to. Which is actually… evil.
Even though contributing to consumerism and capitalism might be necessary from time to time to keep the economy going, our generation has grown too accustomed to being able to buy a vast array of things on a weekly basis just because of the tactics that companies use to make us buy those products. We have lost the sense of only buying what we need and opting for the purchase of second-hand items. If you take anything away from this article, let it be this: think twice before buying that product you’ve been eyeing for a while and make conscious/smart purchases. It’ll be worth it that way.