My most vivid memories with my grandma (from ages 3-8) are watching television on her humongous couch. More specifically, the ads. Ranging from As Seen On TV, to medication ads with 3-minute-long warning labels, I have watched it all. Indoctrinated I was, indoctrinated into the Pillow Pet life. Similarly, my grandma fell victim to the cooking appliances. Although my Pillow Pet survived many years without exploding, my grandma’s rooster-painted cooking pan peeled within the first wash. Looking back, she probably sold her information to the dark web or consumed lead. Early 2000’s consumerism skyrocketed due to television ads.
From innocent young adults to the gullible elderly, anyone who fell victim to these ads made some corporate CEO of a failing company very happy. These low-cost, yet compelling ads fueled the development of more creative advertisements in the 2010’s. Most popularly, the Life Alert ads with a jingle took American television viewers by storm. It was great advertisement to have a phrase people could remember.
Dental care and dermatology ads were another prevalent stream of products. One consistent factor among the hundreds of products is that they all are “doctor” or “dermatologist” approved. With dressed-up actors in a white jacket or a millionaire doctor in it for the fame, these ads were never backed by real science and doctors. The new age 2020’s version of this is TikTok Shop and influencers who promote products they are paid for. In the short ads that are only a few seconds long, random people on the internet (equivalent to the “doctors”) promote products and it takes the internet by storm.
Since the 2000’s, most commercials should induce worry or question among consumers, but we put far too much trust into what the media feeds us. The big brands fuel consumerism due to our growing trust in the media. As a future purchaser, more consumers should steer clear of random ads, keeping both their identity and health safe.