Column: How the media controls us

From the day we're born, we are taught how to perceive the world around us. However, as children's fragile minds develop into adulthood, we see few positive influences from commercials in the media.

 

Every day people are bombarded with hundreds of commercial messages, from the ones on television to the sidebar advertisements seen on websites such as Myspace, Facebook and Twitter.

 

Many people just look at these advertisements without fully analyzing them. For instance, the information that one places on their Facebook is sold back to them through sidebar advertisements. They are sometimes specifically designed to not only sell a product, but also to sell ideas, such as beer commercials that show people having a fun time.

 

There is no mention of liver damage or how alcohol affects genetic factors and can cause cirrhosis. By showing people "having fun" while consuming alcohol, it puts a happy face on the brand and sets the consumer on a path of self-destruction.

 

But of course beer companies want the consumer to "drink responsibly." This is the Media Buttsaver. However, with someone killed by a drunk driver every 45 minutes, according to Madd.org, it shows that people are not listening to the warnings that alcohol impairs judgment.

 

This is just one of the ways advertisers sell items to consumers. They appeal to the subconscious. People only see them at face value because of the lack of critical thinking on a conscious level.

 

Children from the 1980s 1990s grew up with a lot of positive advertisements such as The Incredible Crash Test Dummies, The Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles, and McGruff the Crime Dog public service announcements.

 

This led the generation to stay off drugs, be safe and be kind to each other, which gave us the name Generation X. But what about the new generation? One could call them "Generation Messed Up."

 

Kids today are not getting proper nutrition, which starting at an early age can cause major health problems. About 70 percent of children's food products have higher than recommended sugar levels, although 62 percent of them still make healthy claims on the packaging, according to sciencedaily.com. The way most of these unhealthy products are sold is by showing cartoon characters engaged in sports to create the illusion that the product is healthy, even if the facts say otherwise. Yet adults still buy them for their children, even with the health risks right in front of their faces.

 

Kids used to play outside, ride their bikes, chat outdoors, etc. However, in this day and age, during the Christmas season when children get all their new goodies, instead of heading outside to play with them they head into their rooms to plug their new electronic devices into the television and Internet. Kids as young as 8 can tell you how to work an Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 and send a text message, yet most cannot explain what it is like to go outside and have fun in a natural environment.

 

Alcohol ads on television have increased by 30 percent, according to the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth. Now consider that 311 children under the age of 16 are killed in drunk driving accidents per year, according to the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration. As sickening as all of this is, many parents allow these negative commercials to be presented their kids without understanding the long-term effects on them or taking the time to counteract them by talking to their children.

 

Am I saying don't watch television ever again? No. But being media aware is what allows one the ability to think freely.

 

When watching commercials or advertisements, do not take everything at face value. Question them, fact check and be aware of what is being said and how it is being delivered. That's all.