Stereotypes

In one way or another, most individuals interact with some medium of advert infotainment throughout their daily life. Specifically, advertisements are a form of mass media which plays a pivotal role in projecting certain aspects of humanity. The main purpose of an advertisement is to persuade the audience. However, some advert campaigns may drag along certain generalizations to certain communities to give meaning or be used as a means of persuasive technique or other humoristic effects. When an advertisement generalizes a particular group (gender, age, religion, ethnic group) to achieve this, certain people have been stereotyped. The extent to which stereotypical applies to different advertisement varies, and this raises the controversial question Do you think that advertisers have a moral duty to avoid stereotypic people?

            In my estimation, I believe that advertisers have some moral obligation to avoid stereotyping people. When an advertisement is sent out to the public, it automatically has a vast influence on their ‘reason’ as it may change their perspective on individuals and different subjects. As a result, some individuals and subjects may be viewed more negatively and stricter than before; setting a social ‘norm’ or ‘standard’ in one’s society. The aftermath that an advertisement generates is immense as it evolves a society’s ‘new’ way of thinking. Therefore, I believe that advertisements must be carefully reviewed to minimize major influences in one’s beliefs, values, and society. I am not stating, however, that all advertisements must avoid stereotyping. To my way of thinking, some advertisements will always have some stereotypical elements embroidered within their purpose, which is inevitable. However, I do believe that greater attention must be gathered when reflecting on the impact of an advertisement. Once an advertisement is considered more carefully from various perspectives, the implications on one’s society may be less threatening and concerning; creating an evolution in the way we perceive reality.