"Because businesses use high-quality advertising to sell low-quality products, schools should give students extensive training in how to make informed decisions before making purchases."
Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion expressed above. Support your point of view with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.
"The issue of the extent that advertising influences society has been hotly debated for many decades and has only increased as life becomes more complicated and choices become broader. Individuals must be equipped for making decisions in today's environment with the overwhelming number of messages being shown daily. One sensible way to arm today's purchasers is to train students in school about how to make informed purchase decisions.
Just as we teach our students GMAT ed and politics to be informed members of society, personal finance should absolutely be part of the curriculum in order for students to make informed decisions on their financial product purchases that are so highly advertised (life insurance, stock trading, IRAs, etc.) and other large purchases that affect their financial future. For instance, the 2008 crash may have been avoided or may have been less disastrous if students had training in personal finance. Perhaps there would be fewer homeowners losing their houses if they had learned about finance and understood better how interest rates and mortgages worked.
Junk food is another example of highly advertised products that affect an individual's long term well-being. Students must learn what an advertiser really means when they claim something is "all-natural" or "heart-healthy," as there are almost no perimeters limiting advertisers to back these claims. For instance, cola has been proven scientifically to cause a range of health issues, from diabetes to obesity and other long-term life threatening illness. However, many colas are advertised as natural, despite having high fructose corn syrup and coloring dyes. Students must be able to understand what foods do to one's body in order to make smart purchases.
Finally, I come from an advertising background, having worked at a large marketing agency for 4 years. Being an account manager at the company and producing advertising for both financial products, pharmaceutical drugs, liquor, junk food, and electronics, I am able to substantiate the claims above. Our goal was to put the product in the most positive light and push consumers to learn more about the products. However, the reality is that most people do not want to learn more, but would rather buy based on the claims advertisers make. If schools equipped individuals with the tools to understand that they need to research beyond advertising, our school system will produce more informed citizens.
In sum, as an individual who has worked in the field of advertising for major brands across industries, I absolutely concur that schools should teach students how to make informed purchases beyond just seeing the advertising. There are more choices today in our daily lives that make each purchase more complicated, which has led to people making decisions based on the advertising rather than based on more informed research. With the proper training early in life, I believe this can be reversed and individuals would be more empowered.
Thank you!!
Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion expressed above. Support your point of view with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.
"The issue of the extent that advertising influences society has been hotly debated for many decades and has only increased as life becomes more complicated and choices become broader. Individuals must be equipped for making decisions in today's environment with the overwhelming number of messages being shown daily. One sensible way to arm today's purchasers is to train students in school about how to make informed purchase decisions.
Just as we teach our students GMAT ed and politics to be informed members of society, personal finance should absolutely be part of the curriculum in order for students to make informed decisions on their financial product purchases that are so highly advertised (life insurance, stock trading, IRAs, etc.) and other large purchases that affect their financial future. For instance, the 2008 crash may have been avoided or may have been less disastrous if students had training in personal finance. Perhaps there would be fewer homeowners losing their houses if they had learned about finance and understood better how interest rates and mortgages worked.
Junk food is another example of highly advertised products that affect an individual's long term well-being. Students must learn what an advertiser really means when they claim something is "all-natural" or "heart-healthy," as there are almost no perimeters limiting advertisers to back these claims. For instance, cola has been proven scientifically to cause a range of health issues, from diabetes to obesity and other long-term life threatening illness. However, many colas are advertised as natural, despite having high fructose corn syrup and coloring dyes. Students must be able to understand what foods do to one's body in order to make smart purchases.
Finally, I come from an advertising background, having worked at a large marketing agency for 4 years. Being an account manager at the company and producing advertising for both financial products, pharmaceutical drugs, liquor, junk food, and electronics, I am able to substantiate the claims above. Our goal was to put the product in the most positive light and push consumers to learn more about the products. However, the reality is that most people do not want to learn more, but would rather buy based on the claims advertisers make. If schools equipped individuals with the tools to understand that they need to research beyond advertising, our school system will produce more informed citizens.
In sum, as an individual who has worked in the field of advertising for major brands across industries, I absolutely concur that schools should teach students how to make informed purchases beyond just seeing the advertising. There are more choices today in our daily lives that make each purchase more complicated, which has led to people making decisions based on the advertising rather than based on more informed research. With the proper training early in life, I believe this can be reversed and individuals would be more empowered.
Thank you!!
