What Is Advertising?

"You can tell the ideals of a nation by its advertisements." —Norman Douglas

"[The advertiser articulates]...a novel magic which offers to meet the familiar
pains of a particular society and history, to soften or to sharpen ambition, bitterness, solitude, lust, failure and rapacity." —Fred Inglis

Advertising is...


  • paid for
  • a way of promoting products, services or information
  • a form of communication (between manufacturer and consumer)
  • a physical commodity
  • an integral part of pop culture
  • an important economic force
  • a part of our urban landscape

The analysis of advertising is an integral part of Media Studies. Advertising manifests itself in all known media forms, and is constantly seeking new media, new channels of communication. Through looking at advertising we can learn not only how the most simple narratives are constructed (a print ad is simpler than a magazine article, a TVC is simpler than a feature film, although they use the same narrative techniques), but how ideas can be communicated at great speed, through the use of single images and words.

For a basic definition, check out the GCSE pages.

DISCUSS...

  • Advertisements create false wants and encourage the production and consumption of things that are incompatible with the fulfilment of genuine and urgent human needs.
  • Advertising is economically necessary and has brought many benefits to society.
  • Advertising is an irrational system which appeals to our emotions and to anti-social feelings which have nothing to do with the goods on offer.
  • Audiences are completely free to ignore advertising therefore it cannot brainwash people.
  • Advertisements usually suggest that material gain is the only route to social success and happiness.
  • Advertising increases the sales of mass-produced goods and therefore stimulates the economy.
  • Advertising creates jobs and prosperity