Advertising Kilbourne Summary

1. What are the main criticisms of advertising that Kilbourne brings out? Do you agree with these criticisms?
Kilbourne primarily dislikes advertising because as a whole it promotes a two way relationship with a product instead of a human being. It portrays a picture of a perfect relationship that is without vulnerability or risks. She says that one ad alone may not affect a person immensely, but after several ads, people begin to buy into a reality that depicts products as relationship fillers taking the place of human interaction and placing products over people. While I do agree advertisements affect us more deeply than we realize, I have never noticed products taking the place of people in relationships. However, I am not opposed to her research and will be paying closer attention to this hypothesis moving forward. I do think it is realistic and likely that Kilbourne’s hypothesis be accurate.
2. She claims that advertising promotes the message that products are more important than people. Do you agree? Why or why not? …show more content…
I have never taken this vantage point when view commercial advertisements. Though I could be swayed by her examples mentioned in the readings and could see how in these instances the products were depicted as more important than the people, I have never personally seen any of these specific ads. In order to accurately answer the question, it will require more focus in the area of product over person advertising. However, this will be a more precise point of focus in the future.
3. Do you believe that “advertising exploits our very real and human desires”? If so, do you believe that’s a bad thing? Explain your

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