To say that the advertising industry has grown and expanded rapidly in recent years is an understatement. Unfortunately, such advertisements produced have had detrimental effects on the physical and mental well being of individuals of all ages. In our time, it is common and ideal that we see what the media portrays as skinny, fit, and all-around "perfect" body types in advertisements and various forms of media. The idea of what one should look like is being engrained in us from a young age and is reinforced on a daily basis. Advertisements that portray ideal body images have several harmful effects on the mental health, self-esteem, and physical health of women, men, and adolescents. 

We open a magazine or turn on the television and the volume of thin models is evident from a first glance. The constant vision put into our heads about what we "should" look like can take a toll on a person's mental health and self-esteem. One may look in the mirror and see something they do not like. Constant judging of our personal makeup can cause someone to feel depressed, ugly, and marginalized. These advertisements have created a "social norm" that women should be extremely thin and men should be exceptionally fit. People see these advertisements and want to be the models, and when they realize that they are not, they tend to take action that could cause them to become mentally ill. Recently there has been a push for body diversity in advertisements in order to show that no one has to appear a certain way, but studies have shown that not much progress has been made. "Despite consensus that exposure to media images of thin fashion models is associated with poor body image and disordered eating behaviours, few attempts have been made to enact change in the media" (Diedrichs and Lee 1273). Advertisements cause people to have poor body image and insecurity. Studies have shown that exposure to these media images depict unrealistic ideals of beauty and cause people to have low self-esteem. The poor body image epidemic is unhealthy for an individual and society as a whole. People everywhere are self-conscious of how they look, and this leads to deeper issues. People do not only compare themselves to the models in the advertisements, but they begin to compare themselves to their peers, taking this problem to a much more personal level. "In the context of body image, SCT (Festinger, 1954) suggests that in the absence of an objective standard people will evaluate their own appearance by comparing themselves to others" (Diedrichs and Lee 1274). Women, in particular, have a tendency to see their body as an "object" rather than a "process," and that being thin is synonymous with attractiveness. "Duquin argues that nonactive representations of women may reinforce the view that women's bodies serve as ornamental, rather than instrumental, function" (Morrison, Kalin, and Morrison 573). Often, women are usually portrayed in non-active ways, whereas men are represented as more physical when it comes to portrayals. We see this in the abundance of fitness ads featuring men being physically active, where women are the prominent face of beauty products and diet ads. This could lead women to believe they are nothing but an "ornament," as Todd Morrison, Kalin, and Melanie Morrison stated, which is degrading to females as a whole. A person's self-esteem and body image may not seem like a huge problem, but they play a big part in our lives. Body image and self-esteem are important because they affect how we think and behave. These media images and outside influences, whether we recognize it or not, are causing us to look at our own physical makeup and see how we compare with the models, celebrities, and the people around us every day. Society should not have to rely on others to determine how they should look, which is what the advertising business is spending millions of dollars to promote and endorse. 

The "cookie cutter" models we see in advertisements on a daily basis make many of us want to change ourselves physically to mirror this "ideal of beauty". It is disturbing to think these thin models in the media have led to a large increase in physical disorders, such as bulimia, anorexia, and over exercising, which can be fatal. "This is a significant public health concern, as poor body image has been associated with psychological and physical health problems including disordered eating behaviours (Stice, 2002), drug and alcohol use (Kanayama, Barry, Hudson, & Pope, 2006), low self esteem (Tiggermen, 2005) and depression (Brausch & Gutierrez, 2009)" (Diedrichs and Lee 1274). When women look at the thin supermodels, they see the lack of body fat and believe that they should look the same way if they want to be beautiful. Women have proven they will go to great extremes in order to do so even if it is having a detrimental effect on their bodies and threatening their lives, all because of some pictures or advertisements. These tactics to achieve "perfection" are unhealthy and affecting the health of women globally. Men face similar problems, except they usually want to be like the body builders or the extremely fit men seen in advertisements. Research has shown that media in conjunction with body image has had a greater negative impact on females because they are trying to become too thin. Whereby men are trying to become fit, which can be healthier in some cases. We say that this is only healthy for men in some cases because statistics have shown there is also a large increase in the use of steroids for men to build muscle mass. So through this we are able see a split between genders and advertisements. When it comes to how women are portrayed, they are slowly becoming physically unhealthy to be "beautiful" like the pictures. We can also see this split of certain women not eating at all and others eating too much to cope with how they look in comparison to the images in advertisements and mass media. 

As scary as it may seem, these so-called "toxic" advertisements are affecting adolescents from the minute they are able to connect with some form of media. Technology has grown so much that children are learning how to work electronics, such as iPads, before they are able to read. This allows kids to be able to access global reaching resources, such as the Internet, which contains a plethora of beauty endorsing advertisements. Not only are kids exposed to it at an early age, but they also carry these ideas with them throughout their life. The widespread use of technology and its rapid growth is making it extremely easy for kids to believe they should appear a certain way. Adolescents, because they are still growing and adapting, tend to look up to the people around them and take on the ways of others. Advertisements are causing children, mainly female, to look at things such as fashion magazines as a source of beauty. This affects them by causing them to adopt the mindset that they need to be slim from a young age. This is also where we see eating disorders taking hold with young children, and can lead to lifelong health issues. 

Researchers also looked into the effects of "fitness" advertisements compared to "fashion" advertisements and the effects of both on individuals. They found that this study, as well as others, relate to cognitive body image and how satisfied a person is with their own appearance. Women are more likely to report problems in this area than men are. Social and media studies prove that there are standards emphasizing thinness and body shapes, and how they affect people mentally and physically. Luckily, the fitness advertisements of today are promoting a lifestyle to eat healthy, workout, and be fit. This is unlike the fashion advertisements that diminish anything other than being tall and skinny. Fitness advertisements portray a much more realistic body type, and women are striving to have more muscle tone in a healthy and beneficial manner. The study concluded that fitness advertising appears to influence body image and affect it in a comparable way to the effects to fashion advertising. 

In America, the thought of physical attractiveness and appearance has turned into an asset because of the rapid growth of advertising. The beauty, cosmetic care, and personal hygiene industries have gained an enormous amount of power through advertising. Unfortunately, the use of this power has resulted in "negative" effects on society. The harmful effects may not be evident to the general population, but several studies show that it has become "toxic", and is promoting unrealistic expectations to the public. Individuals see these pictures and strive to enhance their physical appearance, and self-esteem, with the use of these products. Companies are ecstatic their products are selling well and their enormous profits clearly overshadow the cost of the mental and physical health of so many people. Certain sectors of the population have come to realize this and it has led to many people criticizing these companies for "poisoning" the minds of individuals and affecting how they see and feel about themselves. Advertising's link as a factor in determining the physical beauty in adolescents should be of deep concern to the public and the future of our young adults. The ideals that are far from realistic are said to be "normal" when many know they are not, and actually lower the satisfaction we have with our well-being. 

Aside from affecting people's mental and physical health, advertisements have even affected the norms and ideals of society, regarding body image. Throughout history, there have always been certain ideas of how people should look, but with our modern society, one would hope and think that body type does not matter and people can look the way they feel comfortable. If it were not for the mass media engraining this slim and tiny body shape standard in our heads, we would most likely not have this growing epidemic. Studies have shown that some people are able to resist these social influences. Both the tendencies to resist and conform to social forces are a result of self-esteem issues. Those affected by advertisements in a negative way tend to have a lower self-esteem, and fall under the impression that they must mimic the models in media. The smaller number of those affected by advertisements in a more "positive" way tend to have a higher self-esteem, and are able to resist conforming to these new "social norms". 

In conclusion, we are able to see the plethora of negative effects that mass media and advertising have on individuals and society today. Advertisements that portray ideal body images have several effects on the mental health, self-esteem, and physical health of society and individuals today including women, men, and adolescents. There has been such a large push for a more diverse body image to correct the negative effects of the past, but there has been little action taken by companies. All types of individuals, irrespective of gender, age, or size, are being affected both mentally and physically. Self-esteem, mental health, and physical health, are the basis of an individual and the basis of our society as a whole. Given these areas are affected negatively, how each person reacts individually and commutatively will have great implications and ramifications on sour society as a whole. 

