Can advertising be considered art? The definition of art is different for each individual. Is art defined as a skill, craft man ship or expression of one’s beauty, meaning, opinion? For me, I consider advertisement to be considered a form of art. The models in couture magazines dressed in Chanel, Gucci, luxurious brands are trying to sell the brand but their expression, posture, beauty, purpose in the picture shows more than just “selling that dress”.

Toronto is a city plastered with ad’s: on every post, building and sidewalk. From what I noticed, advertisements seems to have become a form of art. Companies have become very creative with their advertisements. Last summer in Toronto, I noticed there was a Cadbury advertisement of this 20 feet cadbury, with miniature people trying to climb it with a rope. This was all mechanically made but I was admiring it every time I walked past Dundas Square. It tempted me to go into the closest market  and buy a Cadbury chocolate bar. Back to the question, “Is Advertisement art?” I do think that advertisement has evolved from its 2D shape to a 3D form that people walking around the street, stop and connect to the product.

 [Dundas Square, Toronto]

I wrote this blog several months ago but learned in marketing class that this form of advertising is called “creative outdoor media”. I like this type of advertising because it captures my attention and having the image jump out of the picture into real life.

Marketing ethics refers to the moral or ethical dilemmas that might arise in a business setting (Grewal,Levy).  An ethical issue that will be address in this post is corporation’s marketing strategy towards children. The percentage of child obesity has been continually increasing , causing society  to question social responsibilities of corporations. Corporations spend millions of dollars creating marketing strategies targeted towards children, because they perceive them as an easy access to their parent’s wallets. For example, McDonald offers a “Happy Meal” option for children, accompanied with various toys that suits a child’s palate. The toy can make a child’s day, but the calories of a Happy Meal can expand their waistline. With the uprising of an obesity epidemic, McDonald has responded by  offering healthy alternatives to their Happy Meals; apple slices with caramel, homogenized milk cartons but still paired with their french fries, cheese burgers or mcnuggets. Have we reached the point that the terms “healthy eating” and “fast food” are no longer mutually exclusive?

Advertising to children is inherently delusive because children takes things seen in the media literally. Media plays  large part of children’s lives: shaping their thoughts, opinions and influencing their food preference which encourages them to ask their parents to purchase food seen on television. Children are drawn to the music, visuals carried by the messages, aka toys that come along with not only Happy Meals but other culprits of the fast food industry. Advertisement has the potential to cause harm to children. Corporations may not be the cause of the obesity trend, but they are certainly contributing to it through their allusive commercials that draw children in.

 

We’re not just eating fast food, we’re becoming fast food !

 

Sources:

Media Smart. (n.d.) H0w Marketers Target Kids.  Retrieved from http://mediasmarts.ca/marketing-consumerism/how-marketers-target-kids

Business Ethics. (n.d.) Marketing to Children: Accepting Responsibility. Retrieved from http://business-ethics.com/2011/05/31/1441-marketing-to-children-accepting-responsibility/