I do not agree. While advertising can tell you a lot about a country, it cannot tell you everything. First, advertising is often targeted towards specific demographics and tastes. This limits the advertising’s audience. Second, advertising is targeted towards specific demographics and tastes, which limits the advertiser’s ability to deliver their message. If an advertising message is to reach a large audience, it must be universal. These limitations imply that advertising cannot tell us everything. I argue that these limitations are not unique to advertising.

Even though advertising is a relatively recent phenomenon, it has quickly expanded from a few magazines to worldwide television and Internet advertising. The phenomenal success of television advertising, especially in the American market, has led to many companies placing their ads during the Super Bowl. With more than 100 million viewers, Super Bowl ads are expensive, costing companies millions of dollars. These ads are played by popular, well-known actors, and they are often highly entertaining. However, despite the star power and humor, these ads are targeted to a specific demographic. The commercials are usually aimed at middle-aged, affluent, conservative males. They usually feature a few humorous, well-choreographed scenes of celebrities or people enjoying themselves. However, the humor is mild compared to the ads aimed at younger audiences. For instance, Budweiser’s ‘Dilly Dilly’ commercial features a dog chasing a squirrel around a tree. The commercial is designed to appeal to middle-aged men who love animals. The commercial does not explicitly say, ‘Buy Budweiser beer,’ but it presents a puppy that will grow into a lovable, intelligent dog. This commercial appeals to middle-aged men who love dogs, and Budweiser knows it. Budweiser also uses this commercial to appeal to men in their mid- to late-50s, who are likely to have their own dog, or know someone who does. The commercial is humorous and entertaining, but it appeals to a specific demographic.

The same holds true for Internet ads. Websites and social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are highly targeted, meaning that companies only pay for the advertising space that users actually view. This means that if a company wants to reach a large audience, it must use an online ad service, like Google AdWords, which charges by the click. With a large enough budget, a company can place its ad in front of billions of potential viewers. However, this audience is highly specific. For example, a website that sells cookware might want its ad to appear on the Facebook pages of people interested in cooking. However, if the company targets the wrong demographic, the audience will be too small, and the ad will fail. This means, that even though Internet advertising can reach a wide audience, it can only be used to target specific demographics.

The same is also true for radio, print, and billboard advertising. These forms of advertising are expensive; ads must be placed in newspapers and magazines, and radio stations have limited space. Advertisers must carefully target their ads to reach their desired demographic. If a billboard or television commercial is aimed at the wrong demographic, it will fail.

Even if advertising reaches a wide audience, it does not tell us everything. While advertising tells us a lot about a country, it does not tell us everything about that country. Advertisers want their ads to reach as many people as possible, but this means that they must keep in mind the preferences of specific demographics.