ADVERTISING AND CULTURE

Advertising is the one and only promotional tool that can reach mass amount of people, which make advertising a universal communication tool. Advertising serves to communicate an idea to convince people to take certain action. What we do in our daily life is affected by every advertisement we see or hear. That makes advertising becomes a part of our life, engages with and reflects our culture, because it shows the needs of the society, it also shows the beliefs and values perceived by the society, and it is able to construct the behavior of the society.

What is seen in the advertisements shows the needs of the society. It reflects the audience itself like a mirror; we show them what we want, and they show us what we need and what we should be needed. For example, at the 2009 Presidential Election, Indonesia is still overwhelmed by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's figure that is down to earth and care about his citizen. What happens to the ads is that SBY is shown as that kind of actor who can save Indonesia and brings Indonesia to the next level. But on the other hand, the media itself -- in this case, advertising -- is the one that also shows us what kind of president we need by showing SBY's successful programs, so that we believe in him and think that we need him again.

Besides showing the needs of the society, advertising also shows the beliefs and values that are perceived by the society. Each country has different cultures, they can’t be treated the same. Coca Cola is one example that surely knows that factor. Coca Cola's ads in a liberal country like America uses the idea of freedom, while in Indonesia, they use different approach. Indonesia is a country that holds the principles of togetherness, so Coca Cola use that as the basic idea of their ads in Indonesia, where they mainly talk about kinship and friendship from time to time.

Advertising also able to construct our behavior that could be resulted either good or bad. A good effect of advertising for example, is a change of behaviour to become more concern about the existence of the world and human beings after seeing a Public Service Announcements regarding global warming. But apparently, advertising sometimes also do harm, such as creating consumerism life style. People who actually don't really need Blackberry, but seeing all those ads in every TV, newspapers, radio, or everywhere, might suddenly need it because Blackyberry is almost used by anyone now, and it makes them think that they have to follow the trends.

It all started from culture. By getting closer to the audience through advertising, it is more than likely for a company or a person to succeed in the global market, because we can’t deny that advertising both reflects and shapes our culture. It gives us insights into our shared values and ideals, and also our private needs and desires. It is related to us and attached to us.

*this is an essay for English for Writing final task

Lecturer: Tristan Stafford

created by: Kania Kismadi