Advertising of product (in its real sense) is justified with the exception of
the use of sexual innuendoes, images of nude and other related objects to
conjure or lure people to buy such product which is sponsor in print media (like
newspapers, bill boards, posters, magazines etc.), electronic media (like
televisions and internet ) or both. This form of advertising (otherwise known as
subliminal advertising) is the one that is not justified and which I
oppose.
Advertising according to Gillian Dyer, is simply drawing attention to
something, notifying or informing somebody of something. In more richly, Woodrow
(1989) in John Okpoko’s Principles and Practice of Advertising, published in
2008, define advertising as ‘the printed, written, spoken or pictured
representation of a person, product, service or movement, openly sponsored by
the advertiser and at his expense, for the purpose of influencing sales, use,
votes or endorsement’. Advertising in business is necessary in creating
awareness for a product, and thus, making people have knowledge of a product,
winning likeness for a product, and winning preference and then conviction for
such a product.
In the light of the above, advertising can be commended for
its power of fostering or enhancing business through the regular sponsor and
promotion of goods, services, ideas, images and issues as well as paving way for
new products to be known. Advertising also stimulates demand and enlighten
people on the use of a given product. Advertising increases the use of a
product, it creates competition in the market and gives room for choice on
products that is presented before the target wholesalers, retailers, and
consumers.
On the other hand, subliminal advertising play upon our biological
instinct for procreation by showing women in a false state of arousal. According
to Dr. Wilson Bryan Key (1990), subliminal messages or advertising often
concentrate on the taboos of society- sex, incest, homosexuality, and at times
pagan icons. Also, subliminal advertising or message, according to Business
Dictionary.com, is a promotional message the recipient is not aware of such as
those played at very low volume or flashed on screen for less than a second. Its
effectiveness is not supported by scientific evidence and its use is considered
a deceptive business practice in some jurisdictions.
From the above,
subliminal advertising or message or the use of sexual innuendoes, images of
nude women and other related object to conjure appeal in advertising is not
reasonable because it is against the role and modesty that the culture, values
and standard of the society requires. For every given society have its norms and
cultural values and for every society culture, values and standard frown at
public display or advertising of one nude all in the name of doing and promoting
products, services and ideas.
Subliminal advertising is also opposed because
it goes against the role of womanhood to the society. Groups like feminists
group- a group that form themselves into a pressure group to protect women’s
honour and dignity- also criticise subliminal advertising for its refusal to
protect women’s honour and dignity because to them a responsible woman will not
agree to any call that want her to commercialised her body for a product.
The
use of this penetrative promotional message the recipient is not aware of to
influence the viewer or reader subconscious mind is also frown at because it
appeal primarily to our emotion and not our intellect or reasoning. You will
agree with me that all of us are motivated by emotional drives when we receive
the brief flashing image of half naked girls on our media and this image is not
usually recognised but it is unwillingly perceived and stored to be recalled at
a later time, often without effort.
Furthermore, the use of naked images or
half nude images of ladies shown with open mouths, enlarge pupils and whitish
eyes is seen as a very sensual and sexual gesture of submission by men and even
women (who practice lesbianism) to the deceptive message that appear before them
and thus lure or conjure them to buying the product which in turn might turn to
be a false and inferior product. This way of persuasion or advertising is frown
at because it only false impress, mislead intentionally and not truly pass
information that will give exact analysis of the true expectation of such
product without any element of romantic, cajoling and erotic pictures or
images.
Subliminal advertising is also not justified because of its biasness
in terms of gender equality. Subliminal advertising is criticised for being
impartial by concentrating the use of female images on specific products which
male images feature fewer or none in the advertisement of such products.
Products that women are mostly used for its advertisement include furniture,
household, household and goods, appliances, food, make up and rarely featured in
advertisements for authors, travel and utilities.
Also, subliminal
advertising is also frown at because of the risk it create for those women who
accept to display their body before the camera. The risk highlighted for these
advertisers is that such immoral display of their body before the camera can
tarnish their good image and jeopardize their reputation. It is also argued that
such people may lose confident and support from their people. They may also be
disowned or banished from their society and may be disowned by their family,
brothers and sister because of their engagement in what is not condone by their
society and their people
It can be said, from the above points, that
subliminal advertising not only ridicule womanhood but also dehumanised and
lower the status and pride of the womanhood and as such, make subliminal
advertising or the use of sexually arousal images and related objects to conjure
advertising appeal not justified and which I therefore opposed with my
points.
Having said these, though subliminal message is very rampart
globally, but yet it can be avoid and totally eradicated from our media by the
following recommendations or measures. It can be measured by screening of any
advertising copy before it is being produced in broadcast media and published in
print media. Also, by ban of any promotional or advertising messages that is
offensive, vulgar or obtrusive to the mental, emotion, and psychology of the
audience.
Also, advertising profession and industry should be regulated by
code of conducts or ethical values that will stipulate and guide them towards a
decent way of advertising other than the exploitation of the images of the
female sex in advertising and this ethic should be designed in such a way that
will suit a particular culture, norms, values and standards of their
society.
Furthermore, those group, society and individual authority
campaigning against subliminal advertising or massages should not stop until
their positive goal of change is actualized. Thus, these bodies should continue
their enlighten campaign that will show other productive and lucrative means or
business of making money and fame that individual and most especially subliminal
advertiser can venture into at the expense of subliminal advertising.
In
conclusion, the media (i.e electronic and print media) that serve as the channel
of disseminating subliminal messages or advertising should observe their
editorial independence, which empowers them to decide and determine the content
of the messages that pass through their media and not to glorify subliminal
advertising by accepting it but they should frown at it. In the same vein, the
government should also be on the alert to ban any media house that set to be
promoting advertising of obscenity and nudity message and the government should
as well be ready to withdraw his lincence from any station that promote
subliminal advertising and should never issue lincene to a station that is
established mainly to promote subliminal messages or advertising.
