If it's On TV it Can't Be Good

I've been thinking a lot about advertising lately.

Reading Barbara Kingsolver's book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle has gotten me thinking specifically about the food products that are advertised on television and generally about the type of things that need advertising to be bought by the general public. The question that I have been asking myself is, "How would my life be different if I only bought things not advertised on television?"

Watch your TV for awhile with an eye for what food products require advertising. You'll probably see ads for things like Pringles, Wheat Thins, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, Keebler Cookies, Smucker's Jelly, Bertolli packaged pastas, Oreo Cookies, and other pre-packaged food-like things. And while there are plenty of advertisements for "natural" foods like cheese, beef, milk, and eggs, these too should at least give us pause and make us ask, "Why are these things being advertised? Who is paying the big-money for these ads to run? Is it really in my best interest to eat according to the diet prescribed for me by 30-second commercials?"

Just some food for thought. And if you don't believe that advertising has a lot of thought, money, and influence in it, check out this website that chronicles cigarette advertising. Then think about what current ads might one day seem as obviously ludacris as these do.