BLOG 2 "HYPE"

Advertisements are everywhere in the world today. As stated in the reading ‘Hype’ by Kalle Lasn, the author states from the start to the end of our day we are bombarded with ads of  sales and promotion. The ads are so plentiful that our brains cannot contained them all. Lasn mentioned that ads are no longer confined to billboards, but they are now everywhere your eyes can see and where your feet tread upon. I agree with the reading that the volume of advertising can have an effect upon our lives.

I recall in the early decade as we move around we were only privileged to ads on billboard.  The ads were far apart from each other, when you travel around you could actual count the number of ads because they were so few. Now in today’s society there is much more ads and they are on a larger scale. On the road, you see ads on the buses, at the gas station, on cars etc. As you moved around and see all these ads it messes with your mind. I personally experienced the power of commercial advertising because I was drawn to the colorful and savory ads. When I migrated to the US I like any other had to use buses to get to and from school, there was an ad on the bus and I learned from that ad about a place in the city where I can go site seeing. Not being from this country I was thrilled about the opportunity and excited to go see what New York had to offer.

Although advertisement can give a lot of information, at the same time it can become harmful. It messes with our mind and sometime the ads we see, the advertiser make the ads so enticing that you are drawn to the product not that you really need it, but because you became hook on the item. Not only are the ads for adults, but also kids. My cousin Kevin came home one day from school told his mother that he saw an ad in the lunch room at school of a famous football player wearing a Jordon sneaker. He requested his mother to get him one just like that. His mother told him that it is too expensive and she cannot afford to get him one. Kevin became very disrespectful to his mother. We see the influence that the ad had on Kevin.

In conclusion ads will always be there, we cannot run nor hide from them. I think that it has both a negative and positive effect upon our lives, our minds and effects each person differently. As per Kalle it is the most powerful tool for promotion.