How Merchants of cool showed me how much advertising sucks

In the past week our class has watched Merchants of Cool and this film really showed me and made me think of how the advertising business in our society is shaping the trends and minds of those around us and mainly the upcoming generations. The businesses that are creating these advertisements are targeting the youth generation as we are more carless with our money and they use tactics that are working towards their sale goals, but it is taking a very high toll on our generations mental health.  Although I don't recall the film to really address the mental health issue that some of these advertisements are causing (I could be wrong and they have brought it up, but from my memory I don't think they did) it is a continuously rising issue that's occurring as a result of how some of these companies are advertising these certain products, of course not all of them but there are numerous that are. 

What many companies are doing is they are using celebrities to endorse or advertise their products whether its for food, cars, cosmetics etc. But the one that I would say greatly shapes our society and it's point of view on themselves and others would be based off of what the celebrities or models are advertising which is mainly cosmetics and clothes as this gives off a message that our generation takes in as this is what were supposed to look like or be like and this leads to a greater increase in mental health issues as we become more insecure and self-aware of these types of things. We are having these insecurities based on what we see in the media and we are constantly comparing ourselves to others whether it is men or women with this mindset because it effects everyone, maybe not it the same ways but it creates pressure on our generation. And what also doesn't help would be how much influence others have on us but the celebrities in these ads are ones we may look up to or who we wish we were in terms of whatever, and when they advertise a product we are just like we need to get this because if this person we look up to uses it we should too. Though this definitely the case for everything it does happen with many. 

But take in the case with many celebrities, for example Zendaya in the ad above, I have watched her so much during my life because she was what was presented to me through the media. From this I know who she is and I have my personal opinions about her, which are positive along with many others. But from this I will look up to her  more and see her more as a role model, and when she does ads like this I will pay attention nd keep this in mind of what she is presenting. But one other thing about this is how she is advertising for a cosmetics company, in which would give me the message of this is what I should look like through the ad. But I don't look like this, I don't wear this much makeup but I am comparing myself to these pictures in terms of beauty standards. So am I supposed to look like this, am I going to buy this product so I can look this beautiful, am I going to have the confidence I need by buying this product and meet the unrealistic social standards that ads that features models and celebrities create? UM, NO! I am not. But is this what the ad is supposed to make me think? Well I guess and its working to the vast majority of the society as this what standards our generation is exposed to from these ads. The business that advertising companies are in is to me literally killing the mental state of the future generation and its just horrible, but its not going to be fixed. Even though there are plus sized models with different ethical backgrounds there will still be super skinny models and gorgeous celebrities advertising beauty products no matter how big of a change there is. 

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