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Introduction
Consumerism has become a trend in the US, not today, not yesterday, and not even 50 years ago. It traces back more than a century and gained its first followers with the appearance of mail-order magazines advertising various popular products the prototype of Amazon. As many could have seen in TV shows, even during the Great Depression, the culture of consumerism continued to sustain the morale of Americans. Those who did not have money for Cola and ice cream contented themselves with looking at bright signs convincing them to buy a particular product or service. This paper argues, that, although advertisement should not be blamed for all the miseries of life, it should be regulated by the law to avoid undesirable consequences.
Discussion
Going back to the era of the Great Depression, how ethical could advertising burgers and donuts be from the perspective of townsmen who did not have money to meet their basic needs? Still, if one can trust people responsible for the scenery in movies, in those distant times there was much less advertising. When watching historical films and documentaries, this informational emptiness evokes an unexpected feeling of lightness of being an unheard-of luxury for a fellow who decided to rest and drink coffee in Times Square.
With the arrival of covid and the introduction of lockdown which regulated the daily behavior of Americans and was in some ways similar to a curfew many people breathed a sigh of relief, at least those not working in medical services. Perhaps this relief was embracing a new, unprecedented opportunity to contemplate the empty streets, through which animals from the local mountains and forests wander. Many people were positively shocked with overwhelming joy from fulfilling work duties without having to leave the safety and comfort of their homes. Another factor was a significant reduction in information noise, after the closure of many shops, cafes, and restaurants.
This observation could be developed into a full-fledged theory about the improvement of the emotional and mental state that occurs in environments where the rules of informational hygiene apply. For example, in places where mental illnesses are treated, such as sanatoriums, there is almost no advertising. Another example is national parks, where advertising is prohibited, just like any other human activity. Figure 1 shows an inobtrusive advertisement that informs the visitors that they are entering the Yosemite National Park.
Often, residents of megacities go for a trip to distant states and towns, where, due to the lower purchasing power of the population, there is a lower level of advertisements. In other words, when people need emotional rest, they look for quiet, remote places where no one and nothing will disturb them. Yosemite National Park is a good example of such destinations, so beloved by many.
The need for emotional and informational peace can be considered an inalienable right of a person and a natural characteristic of their body. Bright advertisements attract attention and stimulate the body to react in certain ways, such as launching the fight-or-flight mechanism. That is why the placement of advertisements in city areas should be regulated by rules. For example, the optimal number of advertisements can be established by conducting an empirical study collecting data from people wearing special sensors or Google Fit bracelets.
The quality of advertising could be regulated by rules based on the principle of not causing harm to the emotional and mental well-being of a person. Rules should regulate the scenes with elements of violence, eroticism, or visuals stimulating the immediate production of oxytocin (Eckstein et al. 596). This is because excessive and disorderly stimulation of the body by hormones eventually leads to emotional and mental breakdowns. It is obvious that most advertisers openly and happily manipulate human consciousness, including the stimulation of certain hormones in a particular sequence. Therefore, the introduction of rules is even more urgent to preserve the possibility of a bright future created by calm, balanced, thoughtful, and happy people.
Consumerism is not an absolute evil, nor is entertainment a threat. Without entertainment and fun, our life would be boring, and this was proved historically with the emergence of sports, which were originally just ways of entertainment for our ancestors. Most folklore, epics, and literature appeared thanks to the basic human need to have fun, think, create something new, be in the moment, to enjoy life. Trade at some point has also become a form of entertainment when people instead of killing each other exchanged wolf and fox skins, cloth, coins, drinks, snacks, and more refined products that indicated social status.
Given the above, perhaps the most important negative component of consumerism is not the need to spend money, but the lack of opportunity to create entertainment. Looking at the finished picture is much more boring than collecting puzzles. The game of ball has not lost its fans for hundreds, even thousands of years. Therefore, products that appeal to the human capacity to create, think, invent, participate, and enjoy interaction can become new target elements of advertising, and such advertising will stimulate healthy human development.
Conclusion
Thus, it was argued that some rules should be established to regulate the quantity and quality of advertisements. The quantity should be adjusted depending on a persons ability to perceive in certain circumstances. The quality should be regulated by the principle of not causing harm to the emotional and mental well-being and development of a person. Emotional development is an important component of modern social evolution. Therefore, advertising can unobtrusively stimulate those aspects of human consciousness that contribute to the emergence of positive impressions and emotional development.
Work Cited
Eckstein, Monika, et al. Oxytocin Increases Eye-Gaze towards Novel Social and Non-Social Stimuli. Social Neuroscience 14.5 (2019): 594-607.
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