I am a huge fan of Grip Limited and their blog Big Orange Slide. They recently posted an article titled ‘Is advertising evil?’ which discussed the arguments for and against advertising. I left a rather lengthy (not usual for me) comment that I think adds to the argument that advertising is not evil. I had stated the following:
“Anyone with any type of business education or experience would not make the claim that advertising is evil. Advertising is essentially an investment for an organization to make to generate awareness that can be converted into sales. Advertising is a revenue stream for all types of organizations including nonprofit organizations. As with any investment, the additional revenue that advertising generates could be used for expanding the organization, adding employees (more jobs to stimulate the economy), and additional resources for the company to donate, as many organizations do – including the ‘evil corporations’ like Microsoft, Google, and countless others.
Additionally, I would completely agree that good advertising in proper context makes sense. For a lot of people, advertising is considered an art. Advertising does inspire emotion; laughter, identity, anger, it influences pop culture, and gives people something in common. How many people are going to watch the Super Bowl because of the commercials? How many people enjoy watching the previews when seeing a movie in the theater? How many people browse magazines for the pictures? How many websites does the average person view to learn more about products? I believe the argument could be made that advertising provides a public service in educating people, generating wealth, and motivating innovation. ”
Are there any thoughts to add to the argument in either direction?