Why promoting has to cease disgrace
Most advertising campaigns make us unhappy: they are supposed to set unrealistic standards that shame us about how we look and live in order to sell products. But there is a change, says Mark Lester of We Are Pi
People hate advertising today. You probably always have, but this hatred seems to be high at all times. It is so bad that Forrester called for an "existential need for change" and asked agencies to "dismantle the remains of their outdated model."
One of the main reasons why people hate advertising is that it makes them unhappy. At a time when true self-esteem can be in short supply, they don't need anything else that makes them feel bad about who they are and how they live. However, several recent studies show that this is exactly what it does.
This is not an accident. The advertising techniques that we developed in the Mad Men era were about making people feel like they needed things they didn't have. It made the setting of unrealistic standards the norm and made us all stare at billboards that depict perfect models, athletes and families.
This advertising model largely remains, but a new generation no longer wants to tolerate it. They formed the # positivity movement as a powerful way to fight back. This movement picked up on old ideas but gave them new energy and strength, and it successfully put brands under pressure to rethink their advertising.