Suicide is one of the topics many people cringe at hearing; it’s an awkward, sensitive, and uncomfortable topic for most people. It’s typically not brought up in conversation and is usually only discussed in health classes. But recently more and more high school students have been committing suicide. The prevalence of suicide among a group of student’s lives is increasing. It might be talked about more among teenagers and adults but the awkwardness that comes with the topic remains. People have a hard time understanding suicide and have many mixed feelings surrounding the situation. As shocking as it may seem, advertising companies have grasped the sensitivity of suicide and used it to promote products or messages.
There are around ten million deaths from suicide worldwide each year; that means someone dies from suicide every 40 seconds. It’s also the eleventh leading cause for death among people in the United States and is the third leading cause for adolescents ages 15-24. Suicide is a very serious action and the best way to prevent it is through education and compassion. Learning about alternate ways for help in school and ways to help someone suffering from depression are truly the only ways to prevent this tragedy.
A tragedy is truly what suicide is but yet advertising companies take suicide and use it to sell products or get their message across. I often found that two issues advertisements used suicide to ward people against are smoking and obesity. Although I agree that smoking and obesity are two issues in our country that lead to the unnecessary deaths of many people I don’t think these advertisers should use the act of suicide to prove their point. Suicide is a confusing and hard to understand unless you have personally been in that position. It shouldn’t be used as a scare tactic against certain activities such as smoking or becoming overweight.
It is especially wrong when advertisers use suicide to sell their product. They, in a way, glamorize suicide, and try to use it to show their product is the best. There was recently a proposal for a new Pepsi ad which included a little blue guy who was trying to commit suicide. The little blue guy represented the one lonely calorie in the new Pepsi Max product. There are three ads that were created; one where he is hanging himself and shooting himself, one where he is cutting himself, and the last one he is lighting himself on fire.
Advertisements that use suicide to sell products or send a message are using a very bold method of advertising. Using suicide is not only bold but can be disrespectful to those who have been affected by it. Even if they are trying to send a good message, there are other ways to show the truth. Advertisements warding against smoking that want to be bold could simply show the effects of smoking on certain body parts. I have seen multiple anti-smoking commercials that show gangrene of certain body parts or the black tar that builds up in the lungs. There are shows that show the real way to losing weight and they educated about the risks of being obese. Finding a more positive way to show the truth is necessary. Suicide is too sensitive of a topic within our culture to continuously be used in advertising.
Suicide in the Media
Suicide is one of the topics many people cringe at hearing; it’s an awkward, sensitive, and uncomfortable topic for most people. It’s typically not brought up in conversation and is usually only discussed in health classes. But recently more and more high school students have been committing suicide. The prevalence of suicide among a group of student’s lives is increasing. It might be talked about more among teenagers and adults but the awkwardness that comes with the topic remains. People have a hard time understanding suicide and have many mixed feelings surrounding the situation. As shocking as it may seem, advertising companies have grasped th
There are around ten million deaths from suicide worldwide each year; that means someone dies from suicide every 40 seconds. It’s also the eleventh leading cause for death among people in the United States and is the third leading cause for adolescents ages 15-24. Suicide is a very serious action and the best way to prevent it is through education and compassion. Learning about alternate ways for help in school and ways to help someone suffering from depression are truly the only ways to prevent this tragedy.
A tragedy is truly what suicide is but yet advertising companies take suicide and use it to sell products or get their message across. I often found that two issues advertisements used suicide to ward people against are smoking and obesity. Although I agree that smoking and obesity are two issues in our country that lead to the unnecessary deaths of many people I don’t think these advertisers should use the act of suicide to prove their point. Suicide is a confusing and hard to understand unless you have personally been in that position. It shouldn’t be used as a scare tactic against certain activities such as smoking or becoming overweight.
It is especially wrong when advertisers use suicide to sell their product. They, in a way, glamorize suicide, and try to use it to show their product is the best. There was recently a proposal for a new Pepsi ad which included a little blue guy who was trying to commit suicide. The little blue guy represented the one lonely calorie in the new Pepsi Max product. There are three ads that were created; one where he is hanging himself and shooting himself, one where he is cutting himself, and the last one he is lighting himself o
Advertisements that use suicide to sell products or send a message are using a very bold method of advertising. Using suicide is not only bold but can be disrespectful to those who have been affected by it. Even if they are trying to send a good message, there are other ways to show the truth. Advertisements warding against smoking that want to be bold could simply show the effects of smoking on certain body parts. I have seen multiple anti-smoking commercials that show gangrene of certain body parts or the black tar that builds up in the lungs. There are shows that show the real way to losing weight and they educated about the risks of being obese. Finding a more positive way to show the truth is necessary. Suicide is too sensitive of a topic within our culture to continuously be used in advertising.
Suicide in Media
Pepsi Ads
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