Compare and Contrast/Making Connections between Texts - Essay Example

This paper tries to evaluate the meeting points of these two articles as well as the perspective from which each article views consumer manipulation in advertising. From the view of both articles, advertisers are wont of exploiting the consumers behind the curtains. In order to achieve their goal, advertisers deploy stereotyping and as Twitchell analyses, stereotyping consumer lifestyle is an effective way for sellers to market their goods and services (196). Twitchell reveals that this stereotyping is effected through psychological profiling that splits consumers in society into target categories.

These categories are done based on the social class and he writes, “the more resources ( namely money, but also health, self confidence, and energy) each group has, the more likely they will buy products, services and experiences” (194). In “Racism and Sexism in Advertising” (160-162), Sadiq also espouses the idea that stereotyping is rife in advertising and the advertisers use racism and sexism. He argues that in advertising today, women are perpetually exploited and used as objects to achieve an end (160).

To emphasize this point he points out that, “televisions, magazines, billboards no longer show products, but rather show gimmicks in order to sell their products” (160). Just like Twitchell view stereotyping when the society is split by the manipulative advertisers, Sadiq saw society being split along the racial and gender lines by the commercial advertisements. Both articles have also described that advertisers are rightly aware that consumers are motivated by status and action. Advertisers, therefore, target what consumers value most and associate with class and these include among others; cars and women.

Consumption of products like beer is craftily associated with either the cars as in Twitchell example or a woman in the Sadiq example. Sadiq criticizes that, beer companies; which use women to promote their products, “present women as a goal, a trophy…” (161). Therefore, the women are exploited because they will accept to say “yes” to those men who get the intended beer or beverage (161). Sadiq argues that although this may not be directly seen it is an implication that women are ‘unintelligent sex objects” (161).

In “Racism and Sexism in Advertising (160-162)”, Sadiq uses detailed advertisement examples to bring his point home that companies are notoriously taking advantage of minorities and women in the society. This can be traced in the strong statements he makes in his articles as he lists the groups which are vulnerable targets of advertisers thus; Beer companies have been notorious for exploiting women in their everyday promotions…Unfortunately; the exploitation does not stop with women… African-Americans are not the only minority group exploited in advertising; Arab-Americans are victims as well…perhaps the most stereotyped people when it comes to advertising are Indian-Americans. (161-162) Through these statements, Sadiq emphasizes his thesis that commercial advertisements perpetuate racial stereotypes and discrimination based on sexism.

Twitchell on the other hand argues that sellers develop a