Humane Ed.:Culture: Media Influence: Advertisement

HUMANE EDUCATION: Culture: Media Influence: Advertisement

In a capitalist society, consumerism is what moves the economy. Because of this, corporations and companies some times get desperate trying to sell their goods and services. In their campaigns, carefully designed by marketing specialists that know how to persuade people to buy, they try to send us the 'buy' message so that we become consumers of their product, and if possible, become addict to it. 

Many times we end up buying things we don't really need, and even sadder, we may be buying products from companies that exploit other people, animals, and the environment. Humane Education invites students to think critically about the messages youth and all people are constantly bombarded with. In analyzing the advertisement, humane education invites you to consider answering the following questions:

1- What product or service is the ad selling?

2- What deep need or desire is the ad appealing to?

3- Who is the intended audience, and what do you suppose their reaction to the ad might be?

4- Who is excluded in the ad?

5- How does the ad affect your personal desires, self-image, beliefs, and consumer choices?

6- What are the effects of the product or service the ad is selling on people, other species, and the environment, and what suffering, destruction, and/or exploitation remains unseen?

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These questions were shared from Zoe Weil's book: The Power and Promise of Humane Education" pp. 23-24