Some people say that advertising encourages us to buy things that we really do not need. Others say that advertisements tell us about new products that may improve our lives.

Nowadays one cannot imagine a street without billboards, a website without pop-up ads, and a TV show without commercials. Advertising has become an essential part of our life, influencing not only our choice of goods but also our mindset. From my point of view, people could easily survive without being pushed to a certain purchase by advertisements. Firstly, the majority of ads are based on the depiction of a dream-life full of bounties and relaxation, absense of any kind of problems and just being a perfect person in perfect conditions. This kind of visual images trigger our disturbed minds making us believe that we really need this exact chocolate to make our lives at least a bit better. Whereas the product advertised, like chocolate, for example, may cause even more health and mental problems at the end of the day. Secondly, flourishing advertising is a characteristic of the age of consumerism, which we are currently living in. Shopoholism and the rising overall well-being have lead to our houses being hoarded with unnecessary things. Certainly, at the moment of a purchase they all seem essential either due to the features described in an ad, or due to feeling the longing to posess something valuable. However, eventually, most of the things are long forgotten after a single use. Finally, in my opinion, though informative an advertisement might be, it still influences our decisions as people are afraid of novelties and changes, and tend to choose something familiar, seen on TV or somewhere else. Moreover, being affected by ads people tend to leave behind some non-advertised gems which soon die out without being in demand.