Advertising

Overview
The Basics - Advertising is providing information, calling attention to, and making known something that you want to sell or promote.
More Detail -
Advertising is a message designed to promote or sell a product, a service, or an idea. Advertising reaches people through varied types of mass communication. In everyday life, people come into contact with 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 downtown streets. Billboards dot the landscape along our highways. Commercials interrupt radio and television programming. Advertising is a multibillion dollar industry (more than $100 billion a year) in the U.S. In many businesses, sales volume depends on the amount of advertising done. Manufacturers try to persuade people to buy their products. Business firms use advertising to promote an "image" for their company. Businesses use 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 uses 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.