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news
Speaker addresses
advertising
By Stephine Michrina
On-line Forty-Niner
Humor was combined
with the fundamentals of advertising and its impact in a lecture
given by well-known speaker Jean Kilbourne to an audience
of more than 200 people gathered in the Carpenter Performing
Arts Center Thursday.
Kilbourne, a feminist,
author and professor, recently awarded the Lecturer of the
Year Award from the National Association for Campus Activities,
spoke of the effects of advertising on consumers in her hour-long
lecture, "Deadly Persuasions: Advertising and Addiction."
"Advertisements
are everywhere," Kilbourne said. "Everyone in America
feels they are exempt from advertisements. Surprisingly, most
people who say this are wearing Abercrombie and Fitch."
Kilbourne addressed
tobacco companies, citing that $6 billion a year is spent
on advertisements and promotion for that industry.
"These companies
are targeting children," Kilbourne said. "When you
see an adult smoker, they're really a child addict."
Along with her
lecture, which also dealt with alcohol, Kilbourne presented
slides of advertisements that send subliminal messages.
Among other famous
ads was the Joe Camel cartoon that the RJ Reynolds Tobacco
Co. used for Camel cigarettes. Kilbourne sided with critics
that said the ad was used to induce young people to smoke.
In 1997 RJ Reynolds pulled the ad after pressure from then
President Bill Clinton to protect youth from tobacco.
Kilbourne also
talked about the adverse effects of advertising on women.
From ads that show women who are too thin to be healthy, to
close-ups of women who have perfect complexions and are virtually
poreless, Kilbourne examined how the ideal concept of female
beauty is unrealistic.
Monica Lang, a
faculty member of the Cal State Long Beach women's studies
department, agreed with Kilbourne's observations.
"Women are
used as props in print ads and everything you can imagine,"
she said.
Lang, who uses
Kilbourne's books and videos in the classroom, said she believes
the most important message is that ads such as these promote
"the insidious damage done to young girls' self images."
Students attending
the event laughed in shock and amazement as Kilbourne showed
slides and correlation between alcohol and sex. Diana Rodrigues,
a freshman civil engineering major attending the lecture,
found the information from the lecture series engaging.
"It's interesting,"
she said. "You can't even see the actual ad because they're
really selling sex."
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