Advertising: The Anti-Consumer Nightmare

Once that was out of the way I started to realize several unfortunate things about the advertising industry. Most disturbingly is the fact that they use human psychology to exploit people into buying more of their product – regardless if they need or actually want it. They do all kinds of tests to ensure that their messaging will pierce the brain and cause consumption. This is of course not illegal and what precisely every company in the world does: creates demand for what they’re selling. But seeing how ad agencies work first hand and at the same time witnessing the culture of America that we have created: of debt, overconsumption and obesity, it makes me a little sick to be a part of it.

Even I am not immune to advertising despite being able to recognize what they are trying to do — the values they are trying to show me I should hold dear. I have mentioned my food, technology and travel vices. And every time I see an ad along those lines my heart does race and my brain does whirr – starting to think about how I should buy this product to solve a problem they just invented. I am not immune, but luckily the activities I enjoy do not cause me to come into contact with advertisements: I do not watch traditional television and if I do it’s on a DVR, which allows me to fast forward through the ads. I don’t pay attention to online advertisements and usually don’t even notice them. If they are consistently annoying I actually leave sites and allow them to keep their precious content to themselves. The only place I can’t avoid ads is the streets and public transportation of New York, but those ads are thankfully usually more ridiculous and hilarious than anything I would seriously consider.

The fact that there is an entire industry that claims to be an expert in everything (which is not at all the case) and agencies that claim to be different than all the others (which they are not: people in this industry hop to different companies about every 2 years – everyone from one agency is quickly dispersed to all others). The fact that they work late nights and weekends to try and release advertisements, which everyone considers a nuisance in order to create demand and then fill it really does sicken me. It’s like consulting without the pay and a nicer dress code.

In essence, advertising lured me into an industry that seems to not have a soul. Ad agencies do not actually have their client’s best interest at heart. They will (and have as I have witnessed) say anything to get an account and the money that goes along with it. They will blatantly lie about the skills and relationships they have to get that point on an imaginary scorecard. It’s about avoiding blame and coming out individually clean when the fact is no one can. I find this even more disturbing than a sales person doing the same thing – because their income depends on their sales. Advertising is a salaried field. If you win a large client the only part of your life that will increase is your temporary reputation. It’s not even about money, which I could understand to a point – it’s about ego.

Given my newfound knowledge of how the culture we have created turns us into braindead, obese consumers, my level of distaste with the industry has grown significantly. And the occasional glamour and rush of selling that I experienced in my early years has vanished. However, I can’t say that advertising is 100% evil — my current job has allowed me for the first time in my adult career to have time to think. I wasn’t so burned out that all I could do was de-stress with mindless television and large quantities of alcohol before starting the week again. This time in my own functioning brain is what allowed me to discover Financial Independence and ultimately turn my life around.