Advertising Literacy

Hello everyone, and welcome to my last blog linked to my education course at Canisius College! I have really enjoyed my time in this class and have learned a lot, and I plan to keep blogging about different learning and teaching strategies, and maybe even some of my personal experiences as a student/teacher.

This week, Mary lead our rotating chair with the topic of advertising literacy. I'm sure everyone has seen a crazy commercial promising that the product presented will change your life. While we all know that this commercial is not realistic, many of the other ads that we see throughout our day to day lives are sending the same message, but in a subtle, not pressuring way.

This type of advertising sits in the back of your mind, and comes out at a later time, in a way persuading your decision making when it comes to choosing what brand to buy.

Advertising can be dangerous to kids, especially adolescents. The way in which advertisements portray the "perfect body" or the "perfect look" can cause young adults, especially girls, to have low self esteem. This is where crazy diet trends, eating disorders, and self harm can come into play. These young girls with malleable minds that see these poisonous advertisements become unhappy with the way they look, and think that by buying a product or changing themselves, they will look that "ideal" way.

I know I have personally seen these ads and wished I looked like that. But then I consider the way the models ribs can all be seen, and that their legs are like toothpicks. This is when I see that this "look" honestly looks unhealthy.

However, adolescents don't see that side to the advertisements. We as educators, who have had our own personal experiences with ads like these, need to educate our students on how to see through some of these ads. By having a conversation, or creating a lesson based off the topic being taught that works in advertising, our students will become conscientious of the bad side of advertising.