Written By: Antora Dutta
Every time you switch on the TV and you will see some products being pushed on you with some assurance. This is advertising. Your mind is being sold to these advertisers. Advertising is the promotion of product or services. This gives companies a way to expose their products to people and hence maximize their sales. With out advertisement not a single farm or company can grow in this world of competition.
Advertising is the mostly debated topic now. Like every other thing it has also some positive as well some negative points. If it has some positive aspect of social and economical impact on society then it do have some negative impact also. Advertising a public welfare program has positive social impact whereas exposing woman in an advertisement has negative impact on society.
Advertising is a mass marketing technique. Assorted techniques are used for advertising which persuades the consumers that why they need the product which is being advertised. They focus more on the benefits, which consumer will get from that product, rather than the product itself. Through advertising, products can be known to public easily. They can decide which product they need and why. Thus increasing the consumption and as a result also increasing the demand of the product.
Advertising can also be used to generate awareness among public that which product they use and to which product they can say no. It can also be used to educate people about certain diseases or danger (example: – AIDS, TB, viral diseases, etc.). Even the backward people are now aware of many diseases and their problems. And all these credits goes to proper advertising. Diseases like Polio could never been controlled if the timings for polio drops aren’t advertised regularly.
Advertising can also be used to inform public about social events like concerts and performances. Charities can use media to advertise about the illnesses and encourage people for donations. Social organizations and NGOs can use the mean of advertisement for promoting their campaigns. Seeking help through advertisement during epidemics or natural calamities can help a lot.
There are also various blames that advertising is causing negative social impact on lives. Even if advertising has a vast good impacts on society, it can be ruled out that is has bad impact also. It plays with the emotions of general public and encourages them to think that buying and depleting are the activities of life. Advertising posters of modern films, where sexuality is shown much than the actual theme of the movie, can divert the society a lot. Materialism is being much glorified through advertisements, which can again have dangerous consequences Society is becoming ignorant towards social or world issues because we are too obsessed to satisfy our newly created needs. We want to earn more and more money so that we can buy happiness in forms of products, being advertised as they can bring all the happiness in our lives. We are starving for material goals, because we always just want to have more.
Products which are heavily advertised are expensive due to the cost spent on advertising. It is true that advertising increases consumption, but its also true that the more we consume, the more we destroy the environment, because if demand increases production also increases. Thus the need of raw materials also increases.
There are two advertisements, shown below. Both of them are of same products, that is ice-cream, but with different forms. One can judge from them that which one have positive and which one can have negative impact on society. 
So, we can say that advertising has positive as well as negative impact on society. The balance, of what is necessary and what really not needed should be focused more. Advertisement can create contentment but can also simultaneously create discontentment. Our society and the marketing of products depend so badly on advertisement that even its negative impact on society can’t outweigh the many positive social and economical effects.