PROTECTION FROM ADVERTISEMENT

Advertisement is a skilful way of blowing one’s own trumpet. To speak of one’s goods has been raised to the level of fine art. The most successful businessman is he who knows the secret of effective advertisement. The real worth of an article is of little importance; what matters is the way in which public attention is drawn towards it. Men do not part with their money easily, but the clever advertiser can draw it out of the pockets of the even most cautious and miserly customers.

Manifold are the means by which advertisements are relayed. The press is the most efficient and penetrating medium of advertisement as it can reach the largest readership. Among other media of advertisement may be mentioned the radio, the cinema, the television, show cards, electric flashlights, etc. Newer devices are being adopted every day for the purpose of advertisement.

There is a great need to advertise one’s goods. In an age of commercial competition, goods cannot be sold without proper advertisement. If properly done, advertisement can help the public in choosing and buying the best in the market. As we advance, we make new discoveries and inventions. We bring out devices for good and comfortable living and we should tell the public what they are. Advertisements play a very important part in this respect. They bring profit to the producers and offer a wide choice for the public. Without advertisement our trade and commerce would never flourish.

During the last fifty years or so advertisements have become aggressive, seductive and deceitful, so much so that they can literally induce an Eskimo to buy a refrigerator. The new methods, means and tricks of advertising enable the unscrupulous traders and manufacturers to prey upon the credulity of lay public, thereby effecting huge sales and pocketing heavy profits. In competitive advertising, the advertiser tries to impress upon the readers the superiority of his own products over those of his rival producers and thus casts a spell on the minds of the target group to buy his wares in preference to his rivals. Once the market for his products is established, he secures a steady clientele, a constant demand for his products and an assured income from its sales.

Today’s advertising methods have a marvellous effect on the sales of goods and services thus advertised. But advertisements for harmful products have their baneful effects on the buyers. Hence people have started feeling the need for protecting themselves from the evil effects of exploitative and misleading advertisements. Destructive advertising is designed to secure public patronage through false and misleading statements in an exaggerated manner.

The most fashionable method of present day advertising campaigns is to show the images of very young and very beautiful women in the ads. Perhaps it is no exaggeration to say that the display of the body of a woman has become an integral part of today’s advertising, even if the goods and services advertised are not even remotely concerned with women. The most important and attractive feature of the advertisement is the picture of a young and beautiful woman prominently displayed on the left. Perhaps the idea is that the reader will be irresistibly tempted to look at the picture and while doing that, will also incidentally read the message. For instance, in newspapers and magazines, have a look at the front page of any fast-selling ones, you will see semi-nude pictures of young and beautiful actresses in ‘inviting’ poses. Well, let me not be too gender specific, we can add handsome and well build male actors there, for that matter. For these newspapers and magazines, the time-honoured Indian morality and values are, no doubt, noble things, but the paper sells well only if it carries semi-nude colour photos of fetching girls and the newspapermen have also to earn their two square meals. The display of lingerie-clad beauties can bring these meals most easily. Therefore, a compromise on values becomes unavoidable.

It is universally agreed that the consumer is often a very incompetent judge of the quality goods. Taking undue advantage of this weakness of his, the cleverly laid out advertisements can induce him to purchase goods of doubtful value. But this creates brand monopolies, which stand in the way of free competition in respect of price and quality. Since the brand has established itself as the beauty soap of film stars and not any particular star, it is not dependent on the waxing and waning of a star’s fortune. Thus, the businessmen use whosoever is in the limelight at a particular time, be it Aishwarya Rai, Kareena Kapoor, or Katrina Kaif. Having thus been hypnotised by these brand monopolies, the consumer refuses to accept any substitute even a better quality and is ready to pay a higher price for inferior quality goods (I do not intend to directly imply that these actors advertises for low products) and this syndrome creates unnecessary want of the customers, who may or may not be able to afford.

With competition becoming so intense in every field, one has to start focussing on a certain facet of the celebrity’s personality and relate it to the brand in question. Another illustration, Saif’s personality, for instance, goes well with the brand image of Clinic shampoo. Similarly, the winner of the Miss Beautiful Hair Contest is used to sell another brand of shampoo. Viswanathan Anand for Memory Plus is a good equation between a personality and a product. But on the other hand, by becoming “Seductive as eve” it creates a peculiar habit and fashion and compels a buyer to buy certain products at a price not justified by their quality. There are some advertisements, which even help in selling “Rivers of tonics and mountains of pills” good, bad and indifferent by invoking the people’s fear of death and diseases. We definitely need to protect ourselves against the invasion of such advertisements.

And there is another danger from the abuse of advertisements. More is spent on advertisements than in making of goods. This is done on the mere belief that the more money one spends on advertisement, the wider the market for his goods. This is, no doubt, true. But this is also likely to result in two evils. Either the goods will cost more than they are worth or the quality of goods will be third-rate. The reason is that advertising cost a good deal. The money invested in advertising will increase the cost and price of goods. Else, if prices are not raised to meet the cost of advertisements, the alternative is to use cheap and second-rate materials in the making of goods. In either case, excessive advertisement is harmful to the people. In an age of commercial competitions, when several people produce the same kind of goods, either of these evils is inevitable.

But these evils of advertisements do not mean that advertising is bad. The abuse of anything does not mean that it is useless. We must use advertisement for letting the public know what goods are available. The motive of advertisement should be public service, not private gain. If this motive is present, advertisements do good to all concerned-the producers and consumers alike. There will be no danger of lowering the standards of commercial morality so long as the producers and distributors choose service to the public as their aim. The danger comes when private gain is made at the cost of public good.