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The thought, time, energy, and monies that are put into advertising efforts can reach almost unfathomable proportions and it's done for one reason; because it works. Americans currently are hit with anywhere from 600 to 3000 types of advertising per day and increasingly grows the number of ads that are deliberately deceptive. “It is estimated that $236 billion will be spent this year in the United States on print, radio, online, and broadcast advertising to get a piece of this market.� Marketing Without Advertising, 2005 ISBN: 9781413301847 (Michael Phillips & Salli Rasberry)

The good thing is that this kind of power isn’t all bad.

We just need to find some alternative means and methods so that the power of advertising can be used for our betterment as individuals and as a society. As an example of how design and the sub-elements in our everyday world currently effects our daily lives, I want to highlight a bit of writing by Jennie Winhall titled, “Is design political?�.
She speaks of a “…“toxic environment� where the world around us is designed to make us less healthy.� Examples of this come as varied as the automatic inclination to drive rather than walk or bike, poor lighting and sidewalks in poor condition are contributing to our lack of desire to go out and walk about, and even our food options often result in unhealthy choices if we don’t have time to prepare the food ourselves.

What this tells me is that we need design and advertising to remind us how to live better not just as consumers but also as individuals as part of a bigger system. I believe a key part of the equation comes in the understanding that healthier individuals make for a healthier society. It’s like the argument of putting more up front to get the extended return down the road.

Some people already have the right idea.
The Do>Groove campaign put on by the Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance company is an example in the right direction. It’s not difficult to recall the goofy song that goes with the goofy ad showcasing an unflattering middle-aged man dancing around some medical office waiting room. It serves as a catchy way of reminding the everyday busy person that taking action to be fit can be as easy as taking care of a garden or mowing the yard. Although it may stick in your head, it’s only a start.
It’s not enough yet.

Part of the problem that I see is that the ads cannot penetrate close enough to home.
For instance, if a person wants to take up biking, how do you know where the local bike trail is at? Yet for some reason nearly everyone who listens to the local Twin Cities radio knows that Arthur’s Jewelers is the King of Diamonds.
People go with what they know.
Sometimes what happens next is based on what information we have. It can be difficult to go to a place that you’ve never heard of before.
Many of us now have grown up to expect that options will become present at the touch of a button. The problem doesn’t fall upon those people who already maintain a healthy lifestyle. It becomes about the people who would like to do something better but for some reason they can never seem to get into that routine. It’s also important to understand that when there are too many steps that come between our desire to be healthier and finding out how to live better, many lose their motivation because the answers just aren't close enough for them to make that initial leap.

What I would like to see is local government agencies teaming up with health care and health insurance providers. The purpose of this collaboration would be to generate a new wave of ad campaigns the healthy local amenities of the county and collective websites that are dedicated to showcasing local physical outlets, “where to buy� information, nutritional information, etc. The ads would be generated with the same quality and intent as the typical commercial ads meaning they would be researched and directed towards a particular target market and aired with enough frequency to generate an impact.
They would be informative, tasteful, and direct.
The purpose of the website would be to serve as a community hub for information regarding any of the healthy choice amenities the local area has to offer.

What this is meant to do is three things.
The first is to overtly charge the daily individual lives of the members of any community with relevant ads helping to positively reinforce the idea of healthy living. The second is to follow up with the advertising awareness with direct and concise community information regarding the “what, where, how & why� answers that people can relate to locally. The third comes back in the form of the extended payoff for the organizations that help foster and facilitate such campaigns.
If done properly, over time I believe the local community will see an improvement in the quality of life for its inhabitants and workers. This kind of outcome has a high likelihood of resulting in things like greater workforce performance due to decline in illness or fewer health claims due to increased personal health responsibility.
Through greater quality of life comes increased profitability because people will be not just working more in general, but they will be working in a better, more productive manner. This creates a system of mutual reward for both the participants and the facilitators.