| Summary: |
From its inception in the mid-nineteenth century, national advertising
has evolved into a massive enterprise. In 2003, U.S. advertisers spent
an estimated $236 billion, and today some scholars conclude that each day
the average American is exposed to several thousand advertisements. By all
accounts, advertising has saturated every nook and cranny of our lived experiences,
bringing enormous social, cultural, and economic implications for
this republic. Our media system is drenched in advertising and commercialism,
yet these profit-driven enterprises are problematic for the democratic
functioning of society and, some argue, for human happiness.1
And some Americans are unhappy. A 2004 study commissioned by the
American Association of Advertising Agencies revealed a significant level of
public dissatisfaction with advertising. Sixty-five percent of the respondents
thought they were “constantly bombarded with too much advertising,†61
percent believed that advertising and marketing levels were “out of control,â€
and 60 percent of those interviewed said they currently held a more negative
opinion of advertising than they had a few years ago. Nearly half the
respondents reported that the excess advertising and marketing detracted
from “the experience of everyday life,†and 33 percent would be willing to
settle for a slightly lower standard of living if this meant having a society
devoid of marketing and advertising
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