How Advertising Affects Our Self-esteem, Brain and Senses

In today’s world, advertising affects everyone. Sometimes it feels annoying for us to watch the ads of beauty products, food, cars and other stuff. However, we can’t deny the fact that advertising affects our self-esteem, brain and senses.

There are two main targets of each promotion: men and women. They, of course, have different preferences, so it means that the idea, which is being sent to the consumers, is completely contrasting. For example, girls and women can find thousands of advertisements in a beauty section. Fragrances, cosmetics, beauty supplies – everything looks perfect and catchy for women, as they want to identify themselves with the models promoting (and actually using) the goods. According to the study by McCann Worldgroup (2012), women always analyze advertisements and relate to the product, which can really help them to get rid of different types of problems (e.g. with skin or hair), or maybe make them look more attractive (like in a decorative cosmetics ads). This is the main reason of a bombardment from the side of PR agencies and brands. They want to see that girls and women buy and love the products on the market, that they actually help them to look better and more confident. So, here we can see the message which is sent directly to women of all ages via advertising nowadays: every girl, young lady, women and elderly lady is unique and beautiful. There are no more actual “standards” in beauty – and no shaming. Popular brands like “Nike”, “Aerie”, “Always” and others film campaigns, which represent women of all ages and complexion, showing their strength and individuality. Also, in today’s world, when women’s rights and senses are a constant subject of discussion, mass media are trying to follow the changes. Women’s image is changing in both magazines, news and other media sources. Taking a closer look at Vogue covers and Instagram promotion posts – there are so many different women – and they don’t look like sex-objects anymore, on the contrary, they are represented naturally beautiful, non-standard with their own distinctive features. We can definitely say that nowadays media honor and adore women.

But what about men and boys? There are not so many ads targeted directly to them. Usually it’s all about cars, watches, fragrances and some men’s beauty products like shaving creams. And even though the market of an advertising for sterner sex is smaller, we can see a clearer image of a commercial message. Successful man is the one who has great car, expensive fragrance, nicely looking suit and a well-paid job. It is rather precise description of a men’s role in today’s world. According to Tom Nakayama, “Advertising negatively affects men by narrowing the definition of what it means to be a man in a society”. An average man doesn’t look like male models from the ads. So it is rather hard for men to associate themselves with their media image, because not everyone can buy an expensive Chanel/Tom Ford eau de parfum, wear Rolex and driving Audi or Lexus. There is such a huge abyss between a fake illustration of boys and men and real life.

As it can be seen, both genders are affected so much by the advertising. The media can promote everything, putting pressure on our mental state and self-estimation. It’s important not to try on the image which ads gives us and stay true to yourself and your confidence.