Jean Kilbourne believes that advertisements influence people in subtle ways by making them feel insecure and encouraging addictive behaviors. She notes that the average American sees 3000 ads per day, making influence difficult to avoid. While August Busch III, CEO of Anheuser Busch, denies that ads influence behaviors or cause future addictions, Kilbourne argues that alcohol ads targeting animals like horses will attract children and ads implying products can solve problems can encourage addiction. Overall, Kilbourne asserts that ads subtly shape desires in harmful ways over time, while Busch maintains people are not influenced without choosing to be.

1. Interview with Jean Kilbourne, author of Can’t Buy My
Love
By Catherine McKay
August 28, 2011
Are you influenced by advertisements?
Yes, I see an ad in a magazine and I catch myself thinking I have several flaws. Such
as, my belly is too round, I have to many wrinkles, my teeth aren’t white enough or
my nails are ugly. I have been studying issues in advertisements for years and I am
still affected, so I understand why they easily affect most people. It’s hard to ignore
all the influences advertisements have when they are in our lives everyday.
Do you believe some people are not affected by advertisements?
Well, I believe that is almost impossible. The average American is exposed to at least
three thousand ads every day. Also, the average American will spend hours
watching television commercials. So how could someone not be influenced?
Do you think the three thousand ads Americans see everyday of alcohol and
food advertisements can cause future addictions?
Yes. I don’t necessarily think they immediately cause addictions, but they encourage
future ones. For example, in a 1995 Haagen Dazs advertisement stated, “Your fiancé
agreed to have a big wedding. Have a Haagen Dazs. He wants to have it in a Sports

2. Bar. Have some more.” This advertisement is encouraging eating to overcome your
feelings, which could later turn in to an eating addiction.
What is your view on how alcohol advertisements influence children?
I feel this is another perfect example of how advertisements are causing future
addictions. Companies such as Anheuser- Busch, maker of Budweiser, use animals to
make people think of their product. They created an ad including Clydesdales horses
and ever since most people think of Budweiser when they see those horses. Also,
this company has had later advertisements that included ants, alligators, penguins,
frogs, lizards, and the bull terrier Spud MacKenzie. Whoever denies that those
animals will attract children’s attention must be out of their mind! Alcohol
companies are selfish in the ways they advertise. They are not concerned about how
their products are affecting people in the future; they just want to sell as much of
their product as they can in the present.
How do you feel about the way advertisements make it seem like there is an
easy way out of everything?
I think its funny how many people actually believe that a product could fix a
problem. People make themselves believe a product can heal their problem instead
of trying to prevent the problem in the first place.

3. Interview with August Busch III, the CEO of Anheuser
Busch, an alcohol distributor
By Catherine McKay
August 28, 2011
Are you influenced by advertisements?
No, because I do not think advertisements are created to influence people to make
wrong decisions. They are simply created to inform consumers and hopefully
increase shareholder value. Advertisements do not force people to buy products;
people make that decision on their own.
Do you believe some people are not affected by advertisements?
Like I answered in the previous question, I feel people can be affected if the choose
to be. So, it’s up to the person to decide if they want to be influenced by an
advertisement.
Do you think the three thousand ads Americans see everyday of alcohol and
food advertisements can cause future addictions?
No, I do not see how an advertisement would affect someone’s life so much that in
the future it may cause an addiction.
A recent commercial for Miller Lite beer “shows people playing with a puppy
and announcing that the beer is ‘Man’s Other Best Friend”. So you don’t think

4. this commercial could make people use alcohol to comfort themselves, later
causing an addiction to alcohol?
Yes, this commercial may make someone want to have a beer occasionally, but this
ad is not literally saying someone has a beer as a best friend. So, I don’t see how it
would cause an addiction if it’s not even literal.
What is your view on how alcohol advertisements influence children?
Our Company and other alcohol producing companies have no interest in targeting
our advertisements toward children. Period.
So you don’t believe having an advertisement on a Little League field for
drinking beer is targeting the attention of children?
Well no, I feel that our advertisements are placed in locations where adults are able
to view them. The reason an advertisement was probably placed on this field was to
allow parents to view the advertisement. It was placed there with the intention to
solely attract parents, not children.
How do you feel about the way advertisements make it seem like there is an
easy way out of everything?
I don’t believe that products can completely fixproblems. However, advertisements
that show products bringing enjoyment couldbe interpreted by someone as
solutions to problems. But I do not believe most people would have this
interpretation.
Word Count: 816

5. Works Cited
"Arts & Events - University of Massachusetts Amherst - Live Film Event: Jean Kilbourne
and Killing Us Softly IV." University of Massachusetts Amherst. Web. 28 Aug.
2011.
"Facts about August Busch III - True Knowledge." True Knowledge - the Internet Answer
Engine. Web. 28 Aug. 2011.
Kilbourne, Jean. Can't Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and
Feel. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000. Print.

6. WRITTEN TASK:
Topic Option
Media and Culture:Advertising
Can’t Buy My Love
By Jean Kilbourne
IB Higher Level English A2
August 2011
Word Count: 816