The Negative Effects of Advertising free essay sample

Unethical Advertising Unfortunately, advertising is sending our country into a quick downward spiral, doing an immense amount of harm and little good. Companies pay millions of dollars each year, in hopes to successfully pull the wool over our eyes and get their product sold. The dishonesty is leaving the citizens of this country with nothing to gain. The biggest problem with advertising is that the majority of it is alarmingly misleading. Advertisements convey an unrealistic view of a particular product. Companies go to extraordinary lengths to persuade consumers to indulge in unnecessary luxuries. Once again, the consumer falls victim to their tricks and gimmicks. The American people have grown incredibly naive over a short amount of time. The majority of society favors the superficial and materialistic. All they see is an image. In the article â€Å"Sex Appeal in Advertising has Negative Effects,† Shawna Robertson states that â€Å"Not only have people become deceived by the images they are seeing, but their moral values are suffering as well† (n. We will write a custom essay sample on The Negative Effects of Advertising or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page pag. ). Children are affected the most. At a young age one allows his or her mind to be molded and constructed. A child will grow up to be everything they are surrounded by, being very susceptible to outside influences. That being said, for future generations growing up in a media infested country, there is little hope. Attempting to thrive in a consumerist country, with a consumerist attitude, will hinder the United States for years to come. Once an idea is planted in the minds of weak-willed people, there is rarely hope for reform. Advertising is unethical, above all else. It creates a false, unrealistic image and urges people to buy in, leaving most unsatisfied after the initial â€Å"new† feeling has worn off. America revolves around material possessions. Most are in debt due to this. Everyone wants the newest, most expensive, and impressive things on the market. Unfortunately, we have our hands full trying to tackle the monster that is advertising. The negative impact advertising has on us could be turned into a positive impact if advertising was honest, there was no advertising, and the public became educated about misleading ads. Undoubtedly, advertising should be honest. What advertisements depict is false and unjust. Advertising and the media convinces the American public that if they succumb and go along with the trend, then they will have some grand award waiting for them when all is said and done. Magazines airbrush models until they appear to be flawless goddesses adorning the front pages. In the article, â€Å"Negative Influences of Media,† Manalie Oak states that â€Å"It is often seen that young girls and boys imitate their role models blindly. The negative things the celebrities do are often talked about. The controversies in the lives of the celebrities are often highlighted by the media. This leads to a blind imitation of what appears in the news† (n. pag. ). If advertising was truthful and conveyed honest images, it would do a world of good for society. Consumers would realize that they should not conform to everything they see and should resist spending their money on frivolous outlandishness. Young girls would realize that the model they see in that commercial has a pimple on her forehead, or a single hair out of place. Advertising dishonest products should be outlawed and companies should be fined if their advertisement does not meet a specific set of necessary requirements. If a company would like to advertise a specific product, the product should be inspected along with the ad to ensure the people of this country are not throwing their money away on a lie. If the product, in fact, does not perform the exact way the ad suggests, it should be taken off the market immediately. Companies should be fined for trying to propagandize unethical merchandise or unrealistic images. If this were a requirement a lot of commercials would no longer be able to air on national television. The American people would then be trusted to make an educated decision when purchasing items. Unquestionably, if there were no such thing as advertising we would see a great deal of improvement in the attitudes and beliefs of the American people. We are constantly being bombarded with unhealthy information. In this age, we are driven by technology. The internet, television, and media run our lives to an extent. We are constantly seeing some sort of advertisement, whether on a billboard or otherwise. People want the image hat is expressed in advertisements, and more often than not, the image portrayed is not practical. In the article, â€Å"A Mighty Image† by Cameron Johnson, he informs us that â€Å"The image creates an allure, that is, an attractive association of the thing†¦with a set of ideas. That set of ideas can be entirely divorced from reality, entirely separate from the needs of everyday life† (180). If there was no advertising it would allow the public to see other things about the world they would have never noticed otherwise. More attention would be placed upon the arts and literature if ads were not constantly in our faces. This would counteract everything we are learning and beginning to believe about the media and advertising. If advertising was outlawed we could thrive. Companies would have to find some other source of funding for television programs, magazines, etc. We would be forced to think for ourselves, for a change. Getting rid of advertising altogether would be a leap forward for this country. In addition, it is a safe assumption that if the people were educated about misleading advertising and the damage it is causing, it would benefit everyone. We could witness change take place for the good. If the dishonesty of the media was exploited society would get a wake-up call and some would change their ways. The public now knows about the harms of cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, and drug use. In all fairness, they should be educated about the other ways they have been harmed and misled by advertising. The government inspects our medicine, our food, and other miscellaneous details about our lives, so it is appalling that there is no attention placed on the thing that rules our lives the most. When discussing this issue with a fellow classmate, Molly Smith, she stated, â€Å"If we weren’t constantly being lied to by the ads we see on a daily basis, I think some old values would be restored. Advertising should not be so misleading. The public has a right to be educated† (n. pag. ). Our children should be taught in the classroom that advertising cannot be trusted. Instead of bright minds becoming brainwashed with pointless fads and trends, emphasis should be placed upon valuing oneself and making productive, healthy decisions. People should be urged to realize that advertising is misleading and false for a reason. Companies do that intentionally to dupe us. It is startling that companies are even allowed to do this. False advertising surrounds us and if people were completely aware of the harmful effects advertising has on everyone, change would take place. Without a doubt, the best solution to this problem is eliminating advertising altogether. Honest advertising and educating the people would help but those are not as practical and realistic. Eliminating advertising is the only fair approach to the issue at hand. Companies will always find a way to mislead the public. We live in a time where advertising has been such an enormous factor in our lives for far too long. The issue at hand must become extinct in order for progress to be made, unfortunately. In the journal, â€Å"The Impact of Media Images on Body Image and Behaviours: A Summary of the Scientific Edidence, Dr. Helga Dittmar informs us that â€Å"Advertising, the mass media (including the World Wide Web), and consumer culture highly profile ‘body perfect’ ideals that are both artificial and biologically inappropriate† (n. pag. ). Trying to find middle ground with big business and compromising the issue is not an option. Taking a call to action and grabbing the bull by the horns is the best way to overcome this issue and witness optimal results. Unfortunately, some may argue that the problem will never be solved. Some still believe that advertising is a good thing. People may argue that it is a positive thing that we stay updated with all the latest gadgets and trends. This sort of mindset is astounding and saddening. These people could not be more wrong. If we would do away with advertising, people would be forced to develop and grow in a way that is unique. For once, we would separate ourselves from the unrealistic demands of the media and advertising. People would be much happier and would live healthier lifestyles if there were not ridiculous pressures from outside influences. We can be confident in the idea that if advertising was nonexistent, a new world would emerge. There would be no such thing as stereotyping and cliques. We would be forced to create our own ideas, and be forced to make our own decisions about the image and lifestyle we want to convey. Originality is where we can find growth and connect with ourselves and others, harmoniously. The effects of advertising are cutting us deep, in a way they never have before. Controlling what is thrown in our faces on a daily basis is not an easy task, but it is imperative we do something about it. Subjecting new generations to this problem that we have created is unfair and unjust. We must get our heads on straight and recognize what surrounds us. Not only that, but we should also be able to understand and separate the good from bad. The people of this country must be strong enough to captivate young minds and set a healthy example for the young people.

The Garden City Movement, how it occurred and the influences on planning today Essays

The Garden City Movement, how it occurred and the influences on planning today Essays The Garden City Movement, how it occurred and the influences on planning today Paper The Garden City Movement, how it occurred and the influences on planning today Paper In 1902 a book was published, entitled: Garden cities of To-morrow. It was written By Ebenezer Howard and it set out his plan for creating better neighbourhoods, cities, regions, nations and a better society. It did this through diagrams and explanations of his ideals. Some describe it as a dream, an impossible utopia. Yet it is one of the greatest influences of Town planning today. So how did Howard, a man who had very little town planning background, create such a book? His influences are many. If you were to look chronologically at past models of city ideals you could start with that of the Greeks with Miletus, a complete planned city. Or the Kaogongji, of the ancient Chinese. Principle traditions to create perfect cities. Indeed Plato was the one of the first to set out plans for utopian cities and would probably have influenced Howard, even slightly, with theories of population limits and balancing urban areas and country settings. But Howards influence started with the stories in the bible. City layouts as described for Levitical cities of Palestine in the 15th century by Moses and Ezekial. These cities had cubits or perimeters. They were also surrounded by country and pasture grounds. The Roman empire echoed this with the Pomerium (Space either side of the city walls)and Ager Effatus (designated fields.) Some influences upon Howards thinking were the literary utopias that man has thought about for hundreds of years. Sir Thomas Mores Utopia was a set of rules, but no plans for an ideal city. He stated that towns should have distance between them, children should have access to the countryside. He was against sprawl over the countryside, instead opting for green belts. He also thought of neighbourhood units and communal buildings. But he lacked details and plans. In 1817, Robert Owen, started a town a New Lanark with his own social philosophy. He believed that humans could influence the character of society. Though work and education they could achieve genuine values. Owens thinking was radical and he did a lot of work, creating The institute for the formation of character. He experimented with his ideas, published them and became a famous social thinker. He was a strong influence on Howards ideas, yet Owens thinking was too communal and his plans were not perfect. J S Buckingham, also a keen influence for Howard, Created plans for his ideal city at Victoria. It was a compact city, but everyone would have easy access to all parts of the city. The use of parklands and belts emerged famously in the planning community from Col William Light, in Australia, 1837. With the planning of Adelaides park belt, which was very successful. But earlier signs of the green belt ideas were shown in Christopher Wrens plans for the rebuilding of London after the great fire of 1666. The most recent influences leading up to Howards publishing were the model experimental cities created by capitalists in the 19th century. Sir Titas Salt, with Saltaire in Yorkshire. Lord Leverhulme with Port sunlight and George Cadbury with Bournville. The latter two examples were impressive for Howard. Bournville and Port Sunlight were created for the workers of the factories that were owned by the capitalists. Leverhulme, with his soap company, built the city to house workers and provided art galleries, open spaces and gardens. Although his motives were primarily to increase production, he created better living conditions for his workers. Cadburys town, situated near Birmingham, provided quality semi-detached housing, gardens and open spaces. Yet he also sought for the town to have residents who did not work for him. He was less controlling and sought to improve morale and quality of his workers lives. These experiments in town planning and Howards observations of the over crowded, poor urban living conditions in England pushed him to write his book. Initially entitled to-morrow. It was not an instant success, but under its 1902 re-release it did attain a following of influential people, who were not ignoring Englands town planning problems. To put Howards plans into practice a company was formed in 1901. Initially the company was unimpressive, yet with the addition of Ralph Neville, an influential lawyer as chair it soon gathered pace as The Garden City Pioneer Company ltd. With Neville, Alfred Russell Wallace, George Cadbury and Lord Leverhulme the company was able to purchase land for the worlds first Garden City. After dismissing many proposed sites, they decided upon Letchworth, a town 40 miles from London. Putting Howards ideas into a plan, were the architects Raymond Unwin and Barry Parker. Unwin had experience in town planning, went on to write a book Town Planning in practice which discussed housing, architecture and town layouts, using cul de sacs and aesthetic qualities. The Pioneer company released a pamphlet, describing the architecture for the builders. Housing was to be Simple, yet well built. But suitably designed to promote a special charm, without pointless ornament. This vague description led to some uniformity of the town and some ugly buildings. The city also failed on other accounts. It was not circular, as it had to conform to the landform. The industry became scattered, and the project was under-funded. This, along with the world war bringing munitions factories, raised the house values- meaning it was unaffordable for some workers, who then had to travel far to work. Its successes were few, it did retain some of Howards ideals of open space, use of parklands and a certain charm, yet it didnt house enough municipal owned land and affordable housing due to under-funding. Building cities from scratch is extremely expensive, especially when trying to make affordable housing. In 1906 Parker and Unwin worked on Hampstead, a garden suburb. It was a new direction in the garden cities movement, yet veered from a lot of Howards ideas. It was entirely sufficient on the city for work and amusement. It was also very uniformed in its architecture and, although picturesque, it was static and contrary to Howards versatile plans. The garden suburb was successful, mainly because of its small size and links to the city. Undeterred by the failures of Letchworth, it seemed that the company was actually doing well. Letchworth was a step in the right direction and a good laboratory for the garden city movement. So in 1919, enough capital had been raised to buy and develop Welwyn. This was a site, much closer to London. The first houses built here followed Letchworths example of simple design, yet were regarded as slums by critics. De Soissons was appointed as architect. He used similar designs as Unwin. Informal winding roads and cul de sac communities. This time the company was in a stronger position to support the architect and be more precise about the housing development. Hence the rural, town country composition worked. The existing trees were conserved where possible, planting was used to individualise streets and a green belt was formed between Welwyn and London. Yet there were still criticisms about the town. It was misunderstood as a satellite town in which industry clung around London. But it was not this sort of satellite town. But it was again under-funded, leading to a lack of amusements and community buildings and it had to follow landform wherever possible, to cut costs. Welwyn grew slowly, but these two first Garden cities were successful in another way. They acted as excellent testing ground for the garden city movement and started to inspire the world, which had populations, migrating to urban centres. Many countries had to address the problems of overcrowding. Howards ideas were put into practice, yet they filtered down. Many cities now used green belts or cul de sac communities, but it is yet to be achieved on a regional, or national planning level. In England, a man inspired by Hoards work and other previous cities set about creating his own. Started before Letchworth, but after the release of Howards book, Rowntree began work on his town of New Earswick. It was primarily for his workers at his factory, yet he had his own ideals. He wanted open spaces and affordable housing as in Howards book. Yet he also wanted the families to be able to grow their own food and supplied each with gardens and fruit trees. New Earswick was, and is a successful town, even though many of the residents are very poor. Even now houses are built with gardens and fruit trees. In the mid 20th century new problems were emerging. This was becoming the age of the motor car. America was inspired by Howard and a garden city association emerged there. With supporters such as Olmstead, who later worked on Central Park, NYC, the association became the RPAA. (The regional planning association of America.) Henry Wright, Clarence Stein and Alexander Bing, began plans for garden cities; primarily around New York. They wanted to achieve a regional plan of all areas, as Howard described. They had projects such as the Appalachian Trail. Which was to promote growth along eastern USA, with farming, timber and regional communities. The CHC (city housing corporation) also emerged in the USA to tackle the housing shortages. Together they worked on the first garden suburb in the USA, at sunnyside gardens, Queens. A practical experiment, it followed a filtered version of Howards ideas. After little success they started on the next, major project of Radburn, New Jersey. They used superblocks, which were developed at sunnyside. A core of open space surrounded by a network of cul de sacs. This city had a degree of self sufficiency, but its main success was tackling the road issues. Traffic was separated from pedestrians by planting and overpasses. Path systems were created, with parkways and open spaces. Later when recession his the USA, the CHC and the RPAA disappeared, but valuable lessons were learned from the city experiments. All these influences have lead to todays town planning. In the UK towns like New Earswick continue to thrive. New towns are clearly influenced by filtered versions of the Garden Cities of To-morrow, such as: Alkrington Hall Estate (from 1911), Bristol Garden Suburb (1909), and also in Cardiff, Coventry, Romford Ilford, Methyr, Oldham Southampton, Warrington, etc .Indeed, for much of the 20th Century the main ideals embodied in Howardà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s work have influenced planners. Moreover, the Garden City Association provided valuable support for the town planning movement and was an important pressure group in lobbying for greater planning legislation. Its most significant contribution however was demonstrating that town planning ideals could be successfully applied in practice. Yet in conclusion to the question given on the legacy of the garden cities movement, I find myself asking, what are we moving towards? A regional plan of surbria? Where garden suburbs and towns spread like tentacles over every undeveloped area of England. Is this what we really want? To be five minutes in reach of the mall and golf course, living in crime free, simple perfect suburban homes. Becoming gas guzzling, land eating, money driven people; ruled by corporations. I think that we need to do more that what Howard dreamt of. New problems have arisen and we need to address the core of them, ourselves, our needs, not our desires. The needs of the next generations. I find myself thinking that, yes, we do need open spaces, yes, we need countryside, towns and communities. But we do need to change. Why cant we learn to dream again, to think imaginatively before we build too much, too fast and live to regret it?

Organizations Mission, Vision, and Core Values Research Paper

Organizations Mission, Vision, and Core Values - Research Paper Example According to Martires & Fule (2000), the concept of organizational culture encompass the atmosphere that the personnel is accustomed to practice as a result of adherence to the policies, rules, mission and vision statement, as well as the existing protocols that are being applied in the conduct of offering the products or services to their clientele. From continued patronage and established bond with the organization due to being one of its identified stakeholders as a loyal customer, one has observed that the culture of the organization is known from observation that they abide by the requisite to doing the right thing (McDonald's: Getting to Know Us, 2012). There is also the conformity to the identified McDonald’s System, which, upon further research indicated that commitment to high quality, innovation, and techniques that achieve sustainability embody the organization’s culture (McDonald's: McDonald’s System, 2012). It has been observed that encompassing the organization’s culture is the fast way of ensuring that their food products are served wtihin a stipulated time frame and meeting the highest standards of sourcing raw materials from their best suppliers. Each aspect of the organization’s operations are evaluated to conform to concepts of social responsibility, conformity to environmental protection and conservation, addressing nutritional components of the ingredients that they use in their products, and in educating their varied personnel to emphasize that other aspects deemed crucial in the organization’s thrust to achieve their goals include the participation and collaborative contribution of a diverse pool of human resources (McDonald's: Inclusion & Diversity, 2012). However, when one visited McDonald’s restaurants, it could be observed that there is inconsistencies in applying customer service protocols, in conformity to the highest standards of ingredients or raw materials used for their food products, and in their supposed commitment for social responsibility. Section 3: Recommendations In linking the organization’s mission and value statements to the perceived organizational culture, it could be deduced that all crucial components to ensure leadership and success have already been set in place. However, as organizations continue to evolve, like McDonald’s, the organization acknowledges the need for continued growth through thinking outside the box and by soliciting customers’ feedback and responses with the aim for further improvement and development in customer service, in conformity to social responsibility and environmental protection, and in consistency of practicing or applying the theories learned in operating and managing a global organization. In this regard, the four recommendations proposed regarding the application of theories to actual experiences, as manifested and exemplified through their various personnel’