Name: _Mustafa Hafeez_ Double Entry Journal # _2_ Course: _ENG 101__ Date: _25th February 2014__

Title: Brainwashing Advertisements.
Synthesis of Readings
In “Advertising’s Influence On Media Content” by Jean Kilbourne, she is describing how advertisers manipulate consumers through their marketing strategies. Whereas William Lutz in “With These Words I can Sell You Anything” alert the consumers of the advertiser’s weasel words which can have completely opposite meaning of what they say. These two articles contain the main base of advertisement, one article helps consumer understand the words of advertisement and the other one tells us the consequences.
Position on the Issue
This modern world is filled by vast amount of advertisements from past couple of years. Producers’ main aim is to make profit so they do not really show the behind picture of advertisements. They use celebrities and weasel words in their advertisements just to attract the consumers. In marketing strategies they should show the real picture of the product.
Supporting Quotes
1)“Advertisers use weasel words to appear to be making a claim for a product when in fact they are making no claim at all.” (pg # 62)
2)“More importantly, the advertiser is not responsible for the claim that you read into the ad, even though the advertiser wrote the ad so you would read that claim into it.” (pg # 63) / Supporting Ideas, Analysis & Examples
1)In most of the ads, advertisers betray their customers by using weasel words for their products. They use these words so secretly that consumers don’t even notice them. Consumers should be aware of these techniques and don’t just purchase the product with no knowledge.
In my own experience, I have purchased many products in which I did not notice these weasel words and got trapped in their advertisements. After purchasing I realized the real picture of the product.
2)According to William Lutz, “Help” is the biggest weasel word because advertisers use such strong claims that consumers only concentrate on the dramatic claim and forget the word “help”. Advertisers use this word and try to make many meanings out of it, which are not the literal meaning of “help”. Consumers should be aware of these things and should make their decisions based on just one word.
Even I was tricked by advertisers by this word once. I was not feeling well and used to take this medicine of cold and flu, but I saw an ad of a medicine which was emphasizing on help and fast cure. I decided to try that medicine as I was amazed by their ad, but later I realized the real picture of that product which was not helping me and giving me side effects.
3)“No wonder women’s magazines so often have covers that feature luscious cakes and pies juxtaposed with articles about diets.” (pg # 274)
4)“Americans rely on the media for our health information. But this information is altered, distorted, even censored on behalf of the advertisers-advertisers for alcohol, cigarettes, junk food, diet products.” ( pg # 275) /
  • Sometimes many magazines have contradictions with the products. Magazine’s publisher always wants to attract the attention of their customers so they put contradictory items in the magazines. A magazine having a cover page of a women and slogan which tells us how to lose weight will usually consist of something attractive, not related to the cover, on the corner of the page. Such as they include cigarette ads in a health magazine which is a big contradiction with the health.
I don’t really read magazines but once I was reading it for my class presentation, and I was shocked to see so many contradictions in it. The magazine was about health and diet free food, but it includes fashion wear in pages which clearly shows the advertisers doesn’t care about anything and want to sell their product. Also, it included delicious pancakes with strawberries on top of that, and that was not fat free at all. Advertisers just try to manipulate consumers by these paradoxes in magazines which shout not be done.
  • In the most recent years there are many magazines and ads which speak about health which includes smoking and drugs are not good for health. There have been many campaigns for these products to stop them. There are big pictures of junk food and diet products in the magazines which say that these products are not good for health and will affect the health in future. No one tells the consequences or side effects of these products in the ad.
I was reading in a magazine in which they were telling us about this medicine “Xanax” that what is the use of this medicine and sometimes it can be harmful. Later when I searched this medicine, I found that it has many side effects which were not included in that magazine. Advertisers should to try alert the consumers of the danger of the product instead of using weasel words and betraying them.