Cosmetic War: 
The Influence of Cosmetic Advertising in our Society Advertising has become a massive part of our social environment, and can be seen at large throughout any industrialized society. Nowadays it is virtually impossible to avoid ads while carrying on with your daily life. Our daily dosage comes from television, radio, magazines, newspapers, billboards, and most recently, social media, among others. The average person is exposed to as many as 5,000 advertisements a day, and nearly 10,000,000 in their lifetime (Gustafson). With that said, advertising’s impact in society is so prevalent that if advertisers do not take caution, it can also become easily detrimental. Cosmetic advertising can be held accountable for feeding especially women with unrealistic results and false standards of beauty. The problems with cosmetic advertising and the effect it has mainly on, but not limited to, women are innumerable. Considering the fact that “cosmetics are a major expenditure for many women, with the cosmetics industry grossing around 7 billion dollars a year,” cosmetic advertising is a practice that should be approached with caution, as it affects so many women daily (Thompson). The most simplistic and widely targeted critique of cosmetic advertising comes from the excessive use of photo manipulation in ads, including Photoshop and the use of filters. These tools create unrealistic images of the benefits the product can actually offer, causing women to become more dissatisfied with their own appearances. This dissatisfaction can work to the advantage of advertisers when the main aim is to sell a product intended to make women look better. Some cosmetic companies rely on this ilk of strategy. The higher the insecurity of the woman, the more likely she is to become susceptible to this kind of advertising, and thus, purchasing the product as the solution to their