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American Consumerism


            
             I am the new president of the International Advocates for Health Freedom group, and I am writing you in response to the advertisement for Nitro-Tech bars that appears on page 173 of your November 2003 issue. This advertisement is highly unethical, and, as Jean Kilbourne, an expert on the advertisement subject, states, "we are powerfully influenced, mostly on an unconscious level, by the experience of being immersed in an advertising culture, a market-driven culture advertising is an effective and pervasive medium of influence and persuasion, and its influence is cumulative, often subtle, and primarily unconscious." (Kilbourne 59, 67) The advertisement depicts a man and a woman standing next to each other near a pool, with their bodies facing the camera. The location is suggested by the water pattern in the background and by two metallic bars, which look like the bars from the entrance of the pool. Both models are wearing very little clothing, an appearance that emphasizes their bodies, making them the main focus of the advertisement. The man is embracing the woman with his left hand, enclosing her between his arm, his hips and one of the bars. The female is responding with a smile on her face, her body language, however, expresses a feeling of rejection, as she would be trying to escape from his embrace. This advertisement is sending an unethical message because it encourages relationships based on physical appearance in which the man is the dominating figure. It is sending the unethical message that women should engage in such a relationship and that they should use their bodies to draw the attention of good-looking, strong men, whose dominance they should then accept, by playing a passive and cooperative role.
             At first glance, the advertisement seems to be fine. Looking at it more closely, however, makes one realize that an unethical message is being sent. The man, as he is embracing the woman, is slightly bent over her and is looking into her eyes.


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