What is Advertising?

Advertising is a paid form of communication, designed to promote or sell a product, a service, or an idea. Advertising reaches people through various vehicles of mass communication. In everyday life, people encounter many different kinds of advertising. Printed ads are found in newspapers and magazines. Poster ads are placed in buses, subways, and trains. Neon signs are scattered along the streets of our cities. Hoardings dot the landscape along our highways. Commercials creep in between radio and television programming. Advertising is a multibillion dollar industry (more than $100 billion a year) in the U.S. itself. Many companies depend only on advertising to remain in business. Advertising helps manufacturers to convince people to buy their products. Business firms use advertising to promote an "image" for their company or corporate identity. Businesses depend on advertising to gain new customers and increase sales. Individuals, political candidates and their parties, organizations and groups, and the government also advertise. The armed forces use ads to recruit volunteers. Special interest groups promote a cause or try to influence people's thoughts and actions. Politicians use ads to try to win votes. And people advertise in newspapers to sell cars, homes, property, or other items.