Advertising is Harmful
Many individuals and groups believe that advertising is harmful. This work seeks to research and examine this issue and determine the actual elements of harm that are connected to advertising and further to persuade the reader that advertising is indeed harmful. The Public Health Association states in a report entitled: "Direct-to-Consumer Advertising Harmful Says PHA" published October 6, 2006 that it is "welcoming reports that the Government may soon ban direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription medicines."(Scoop Health, 2006) The Director of the Public Health Association, Dr. Gay Keating states that evidence exists that "direct-to-consumer advertising causes harm" because "there is a risk that people will purchase pharmaceutical based not on what's best for their health, but on which company produces the most convincing advertisements." (Scoop Health, 2006) II. MARKETING AND ADVERTISING HARMFUL TO CHILDREN'S HEALTH In a September 28, 2002 report in 'The Lancet' entitled: "Marketing and Advertising: Harmful to Children's Health" it is stated that: "One of the biggest contributors to the exp
" (McLellan, 2002) It is only in the past ten years that marketing directly to children have been viewed as acceptable with corporation seizing the opportunity spending "approximately US$12 billion on such efforts" (McLellan, 2002) in 1999 alone. They're outraged that psychologists and others are revealing such tidbits as why 3-7 year old gravitate toward toys that transform themselves into something else and why 8- to 12- year olds love to collect things. " (Clay, 2000) The result, according to Kanner is "an epidemic of materialistic values among children, but also something he calls 'narcissistic wounding' of children. " (McLellan, 2002) Other health issues linked to the food industry include an "increased overexposure to 'oversexualized and underfed images' in the media" (McLellan, 2002) which result in body-image problems for young girls. There can be no doubt, as evidenced in this work in research that advertising is extremely harmful and that there should be strict regulations of advertising instituted in order to protect children and adults from the effects of advertising. Kanner states that "The sheer volume is advertising is growing rapidly and invading new areas of childhood, like our schools. child have become convinced that they're inferior if they don't have an endless array of new products. Rampant materialism is being promoted as well as harmful role-playing for children not to mention fast foods and snack foods that are harmful to the health of children. The letter requests the APA to: (1) Issue a formal, public statement denouncing the use of psychological principles in marketing to children; (2) Amend APA's Ethics Code to limit psychologists' use of their knowledge and skills to observe, study, mislead or exploit children for commercial purposes; and (3) Launch an ongoing campaign to investigate the use of psychological research in marketing to children, publish an evaluation of the ethics of such use, and promote strategies to protect children against commercial exploitation by psychologists and others using psychological principles. The harms to children by being "inundated with commercialism and surrounded by rampant materialism" (McLellan, 2002) include but is not limited to: (1) Obesity; (2) Body-image; (3) Emotional problems; (4) Eating disorders; and (5) Tendencies toward violence. (Clay, 2002)The APA responded by acting on a recommendation from the Board of Advancement of Psychology in the Public Interest approving creation of a task force designed to research the issue. The shocking aspect of this report is the fact that leading psychiatrists and psychologists have been assisting advertisers with the specifics in targeting young children through revealing psychological factors age groups. THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGY ASSOCIATION REPORT In a September 2000 report entitled: "Advertising to Children: Is It Ethical?" states that: "Advertising is a massive, multi-million dollar project that's having an enormous impact on child development" according to Kanner, an associate faculty member at the clinical psychology training program called the Wright Institute.
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Acceptance Essays
