The Power of Advertisements in Your Life
It is important to know the dangerous power of advertisements in your life and the effects on your mental health. Advertisements want to make you feel sad and financially insecure while targeting your self-esteem. Here’s what to do to limit advertisements and unnecessary distractions.
Dear Spirited Earthling,
Advertisements have the power to shape our opinions, beliefs, and behaviours. Advertisements and distractions constantly call for your attention. They are all around us, from billboards on the side of the road to the commercials that interrupt our favourite shows. According to Statista, around 185 billion USD was spent on advertising in the United States in 2021. This means that an average person can see between 6000 and 10 000 adverts a day. This. Is. Insane.
While it's important to be aware of their influence, it's also important to remember that we have the power to make our own choices. By being mindful of the messages we receive and actively questioning them, we can ensure that we are making decisions that align with our own values and priorities.
The Invasion of Advertisements
Imagine this: On your commute home, there are billboards and posters around a city, and adverts played on the radio or podcast you’re listening to. When you’re home you check your email inbox and see numerous messages about sales, services and events with time limits and discount codes. You open up any social media app and scroll past advertisement after sponsored post after advertisement. Putting your phone down, you switch on the TV and watch an advert flash across the screen or see intentional product placements in the content you’re consuming (whether it be a cable TV show or on a streaming platform). You google something and read an article where you have to scroll past a banner advert between almost every paragraph.
All of these adverts and distractions have entered the personal space you call home.
“You quickly find yourself living a life that’s just a compilation of what everyone else is doing, or what people want you to be doing.” ~ John Strelecky, The Café on the Edge of the World
Advertisements Want You to be Sad
In an episode of the iweigh podcast, Jameela explains that studies show sad people buy more than happy people, so if companies and marketers keep moving the goalposts to happiness, there will always be something new to buy in order to be happy.
The goal is to keep you feeling sad and inadequate so that you buy things on the assumption your life will improve by having it or give you the dopamine hit of having something new. If you’re always distracted by products and services, you won’t be making the time to think about why you’re feeling sad and what non-purchasing-related changes can be made to help yourself out of this mindset.
How do you step back from adverts, distractions, and sadness? Practice gratitude. Look at your life (not your neighbours, not someone’s highlight reel, not an actress or model in an advert). Reflect on all the good people, experiences, and things you have in your life. Stay present and appreciate where you are now because the you from 3 years ago longed to be where you are now.
Advertisements Target Your Self-esteem
In The Café on the Edge of the World, the protagonist speaks with a fellow diner and discusses the effects of marketing on self-esteem. Think about the prevalent messages in advertisements:
if you have this, you are or will be [fill in the blank – confident, fashionable, desirable]; or
if you don’t have this, you are or will be [fill in the blank – meek, not going to fit in, ignored]
When you define your worth and acceptance by the possessions you have, you will be stuck running a race with no end. How do you strength and insulate your self-esteem from adverts? Learn to love and accept yourself, build confidence through actions (not purchases), and take care of yourself to strengthen internal validation and self-esteem. You are more than what you own and what you can show.
“Not only will those products enable you to be fulfilled if you have them, but not having them can keep you from being fulfilled… We end up believing the answer to happiness and fulfilment lies in a product or service.” ~ John Strelecky, The Café on the Edge of the World
Advertisements Want to Keep You Financially Insecure
The more products and services you buy, the more bills come in. This makes you think you need to keep working or work more than you are to pay for it all. The trap is set, and the bait is taken – you work more, to make more money, to attain more things you’re told you need to find happiness and fulfilment in life.
How do you keep your finances safe? Ask yourself if this purchase helps you achieve a personal / professional / health / financial goal. Sleep on a purchase or wait a week and think about if you need it or will actually use it.
What to Do to Limit Advertisements and Reduce Unnecessary Distractions
Social media detox regularly.
Unsubscribe from mailing lists where you no longer read the emails, or are too distracting from your goals.
Review your memberships and subscriptions and cancel the ones that do not align with your goals or are of little value and interest to you.
Review who you follow on social media and streaming platforms.
Practice self-love and acceptance and self-care.
Spirited Earthling is more than just a blog – it's a gathering place for kindred spirits drawn by an interest in self-discovery, the appeal of self-care, and a desire for a deeper connection to the world. Written and created for curious minds and spiritual hearts seeking meaning in everyday life, this blog aims to help you curate your wholesome personal growth with free weekly ideas and affordable resources for sale.
As you navigate your personal growth journey using the words and ideas shared here, consider sharing this blog with someone looking for inspiration or motivation on their own journey. We are all spirited earthlings, and can lift each other together with mindful, connected living.
Thank you for being part of this community.
Best wishes, warmest regards
Jordan
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