Jean Kilbourne , the author of the book “Can’t Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel” is on the forefront of condemning the advertising industry’s incorrect and lopsided portrayal of women through the ages. “Can’t Buy My Love” is the paperback version of the book “Deadly Persuasion: Why Women and Girls Must Escape the Addictive Power of Advertising” published in 1999. Her book exposes the smart consumer-savvy world of advertising and how it has systematically uses gender roles in society, targeting consumers of different income, age and social brackets into desiring and buying products made especially for them. While sports events like the Super Bowl command the highest audiences of men, the film Oscars command a high female audience. Audience ratings of a show when translated into its popularity, are used to command and inject the most number of ads during its airing. These days, advertising runs the media- and we have become its unwilling victims. Advertising messages pervade our lives and psyches from all angles. The traditionally mainstream domain for men being cars, gadgets, sports and technology products- women are pulled towards beauty products and fashion-wear. Expressionism has blurred the divide between males and females. Advertising influences the way we think and feel. Advertising is in our face and all over the place.

Advertising thus provides us with the images and stereotypes fueled by the products that manufacturers want us to buy. Given that the average American is bombarded with 3000 advertisements a day from breakfast to bedtime- it is no wonder that he or she wants to grow up in the image of the advertisements themselves- buying and using the products advertised on television, radio and other parts of the media. It is therefore important that we must realize that as viewed by the advertising moguls- the consumer is a ‘product’ that has been branded and categorized by marketing research.

For women, advertising has created the image of a perfect beauty for which men would fall head over heels. In reality women are tyrannized by this ideal of beauty. So also is the misconstrued ideal of the ‘perfect shape’ to fit into that swimsuit for summer, where weight control is subliminally linked to liberation from ugliness. Advertising promotes the notion that we can all have perfect minds and perfect bodies- it equates perfect-ness with normality- when the truth is that most if not all of us are far from perfect.

By appealing to our emotions and state of mind, advertising can create nonsensical relationships where none exist. The truth is that advertising influences us in our quest for betterment by imbuing products with power; instilling in them attributes that provide comfort, power and healing. The reality is that the product is lifeless- it cannot love us back. The allure of a product’s advertising might induce us to buy and use it- but it cannot always help us get what we want. Advertising only sells us dreams of perfection- till the bubble bursts after the product has been purchased and used- to the effect that it really didn’t make that much of a difference- except it emptied our pockets. The bulk of advertising is usually directed toward the 16-49 year age group, comprising the young working population.

Money, sexuality, size, strength, and competitive work convey power and status for men. Emotional disorders, obsessive shopping or cleaning, self-mutilation, and compulsive behavior in relationships are common female behavior. Food is used as a placator for failed relationships, contributing to a feel-good effect e.g. chocolates and strawberries. Advertising promotes food, alcohol and cigarettes both as a way of entering into a relationship (appearing suave or sophisticated) and dealing with failed relationships (source of comfort till the hurt heals and the next one comes along). Advertising for married couples and families promotes housing, kitchenware, furniture, even minivans. Adolescent males and females are helped towards jeanswear, jackets, caps and other consumables as soon as they enter puberty. From there onwards, they are addicted towards products advertised in the media that they may or may not need- but buy wanting to conform to the tastes and fashions of society.

In summary, advertising offers false promises. It can never satisfy us because it always leaves us hungry for more- in search of ‘the next best thing’. Advertising only aids in promoting materialism- so we must learn to distinguish between wants and needs. It is a hard fact but one that needs to be learned to escape the web of advertising.