College Advertising Articles

Articles written for the college audience should be appropriate for the students because it affects their reading and writing skills. Students should have a proper guide to follow that will not lead them in the wrong direction in writing. This means that what they learn in class should be represented in the writing that they read. In the book, Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum, articles such as "The Indictments Against Advertising" should represent proper writing structure and format that can be used as a resource for college students. In Courtland L. Bovee and William F. Arens' article "The Indictments Against Advertising" he brings up the criticizing of advertising. Within this article there are certain aspects that I would look for. First, the article should contain useful examples. This criterion is important because examples prove the idea and the reasoning behind the idea. Examples should be relatable. Secondly, the article should contain efficient tone because the tone reveals the character of the article. It also reveals the author's attitude towards the subject. Lastly, an article should contain logical reasoning. This is important because the audience will not feel like the article is a waste of time because there is logical reasoning behind each idea. Bovee and Arens' article "The Indictments Against Advertising" should stay in The Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum because it contains appropriate reasoning, efficient tone and useful examples.

Bovee and Arens' bring up arguments that are made against advertising as well as respond to the arguments made. The article provides the audience with the indictments against advertising as well as their critiques. They include examples of real advertisements from the past and in present time of the article. Bovee and Arens' look for the truth about the arguments against advertising. The article is written in several of sections. First, Bovee and Arens introduce the indictment that advertising makes us too materialistic. Advertising affects our values by making us believe that we can become happy by purchasing more things. This section states that we are the most materialistic society in the world. Another criticism made against advertising is that it manipulates people psychologically to buy things that they don't need. People do irrational things because of advertising. Critics claim that advertising should be informative, true and not persuasive, should not involve a person's emotions and should deal with people's functional needs as opposed to psychological needs. Next, it is stated that advertising is offensive or in bad taste. Advertising can be offensive to someone's religion, moral beliefs, or their political views. Also included in the article is the criticism that advertising perpetuates stereotypes. Advertising could show a negative view against women or a minority. Advertising can be deceptive. Advertisers give false and misleading information. The last section of the article is the defense of advertising. Advertisers admit that advertising can be misused but it is not as bad as the critics make it seem. There are groups that review and check advertising now.

Bovee and Arens' article contains useful examples to back up the points made throughout the article. These examples are relatable and clearly presented. Useful examples are important because they present a strong argument that can keep the audiences attention. For example, in Bovee and Arens' example of how advertising perpetuates stereotypes, they state how people complained about an ad showing a Japanese gardener at work and a scrubwoman that was black (658). This shows minorities as lower class workers. He uses this example to show that the television commercials we watch almost everyday contain some stereotypes. Another example is when he states that advertising makes us too materialistic and proves it by stating that advertisers point to the fact that millions of American own 20 or more pairs of shoes, more than one vehicle and more than one set of televisions. This proves that everyday Americans are affected by advertising. This example is relatable because it is believable that people would buy a ton of shoes or TV sets. One last example would be when he brings up the idea that advertising is offensive or in bad taste. Their example for that statement is when people were outraged when the first advertisement for deodorant was published in the Ladies Home Journal. Also they mentioned that currently, some people get offended with liquor ads. One might believe that these examples are not useful because they are outdated. One could argue that times have changed and the examples do not represent today's advertising. These are useful examples of how advertising could be offensive or in bad taste because it includes an example of how people were offended in the past and in the present which makes them more relatable. The examples included in the article makes it effective overall.

As well as useful examples Bovee and Arens' article displays efficient tone. Their tone is more neutral and informative as opposed to a tone that is one-sided. Tone is important because its lets the audience know how the writer is feeling and the feeling and emotion the writer wants the audience to feel. For example, Bovee and Arens' tone is neutral and informative because he wants the audience to know that advertising is necessary but it can be negatively presented to the audience. He brings up arguments against advertising but he also tries to respond back to the arguments. Another example is the section introducing advertisings defense. This section gives the advertising side an equal chance to be heard. He states that "of all the advertising reviewed by the federal Trade Commission in a typical year, 97 percent is found to be satisfactory" (Bovee and Arens 659) to show that not all advertising is negative. By using a statistic, it further proves that advertising as marketing tool and influence is no longer justified.

One might believe that the tone used in this article is not efficient because it does not completely stay on one side of the argument. The tone is efficient because it keeps the article neutral. The article is not to bash advertisements but to expose indictments against them.

Bovee and Arens' article not only contains efficient tone it also has logical reasoning. Reasoning behind an idea is important in an article because it keeps the audiences attention and keeps the article's credibility. This criterion is important because for every idea or argument included, there should be sufficient reasoning to follow it. Without the reasoning then there is no point in arguing an idea without stating why one would feel that way. Bovee and Arens' show logical reasoning when he states "Philosophers and social scientists have debated the relationship between affluence and happiness for centuries, but they reached no concrete conclusion" (656) in response to the heading "Advertising makes us too materialistic". They point out "The first responsibility of advertising is to aid its sponsor by informing, persuading, and reminds the sponsor's customers and prospects" (656). They use reasoning to back up the presented ideas. Another example of appropriate reasoning is when he writes "Advertising must have the confidence of consumers if it is to be effective. Continued deception is self-defeating because, in time, it causes consumers to turn against a product" (659) in response to the idea that advertising is deceptive. With all of the evidence that shows that the article contains appropriate reasoning, one still might believe that it does not. One could feel that Bovee and Arens' reasoning does not go into enough depth and that it only covers the surface of the idea introduced. But, this article is not long and is clearly written with a form in mind by the author's. They probably only wanted to contain a certain amount of explanation for each discussion to keep the structure of the article and to make it readable by a greater audience.

This article contains important criteria needed for an appropriate article/This article should stay present in the Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum book. This article is appropriate and well-written. Students will be able to relate to the examples as well recognize the structure and tone of the article. Also, the authors' use of logical reasoning is needed for students to incorporate logical reasoning into their own writing. The author does a good job showing reason through examples and quotes from other people affected by advertising. Even though some examples are out dated, they still illustrate the point that is trying to be made by the authors.

Works Cited
Arens, William F., and Courtland L. Bovee. "The Indictments Against Advertising".
Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Ed. Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2005. 655-660.