An Adverse Social Norm

The very obvious change in the method which advertisers use to convey their message. Women are more sexualized today, since advertising emphasizes the importance of beauty.

Advertising as a whole has been so ingrained within the fabric of our society that we longer see anything wrong with it because it's just an accepted aspect of a bustling city. It has entered our lives such an obtrusive way, yet our empathy to participate in the discourse of significant issues does not allow us.

Billboard ads in particular are strategically placed to capture our inquisitive mind. Advertising culture has changed from a more informational method of conveying information to a more expressive and conceptual way. This current advertising culture preys on the fears, desires and insecurities of consumers in order to achieve better results for the various corporations who stake a claim in the wallets of the unsuspecting public. This switch has also offered the audience less cognition about products and more sensory orientated heuristics about positions and branding of companies.

Previous to the 1970s consumers were exposed to informative ads that helped them make decisions by exploring the positive results of a product and the inadequacies of those of the competitors. Post-70's, informational ads were not as effective as consumers lost trust in the government due to a new awareness of the deception the political institutions during to the Vietnam war. They then associated that deception with media and advertising, forcing advertisers to change quickly change tactics. This change entailed a type of advertising that emotionally and heuristically approached messages. This style of advertising carried through the 90's and into the present, forcing consumers to create an emotional attachment towards advertisements. This advertising trend will continue if nothing is done by the public and city councillor members, it is important for us to pressure or MP's in creating change for us, if not, we will further become slaves to the bright and optimistic messages, with negative results.