Introduction From magazines, to the television, to the internet, to the billboards; there is almost no limit to the ways in which teenagers are exposed to fashion advertisements. They see it from the celebrities, who they adore so much, and soon they also want to have the same type of lifestyle portrayed by the celebrities, who are currently considered as fashion icons. What teenagers may however fail to understand is the adverse effects such trends, especially fashion advertising, has on them be it psychologically, socially, physically or even emotionally. This paper will provide a brief review of fashion advertising, how the teenagers should come to the knowledge of the effects it is having on them and the role the marketers and parents can play to curb this menace. Current Fashion Advertisers There are definitely different sources of advertisement with various targets put into consideration. Surprisingly enough, there are plenty of magazines that have been devoted to the teenagers. The top ten magazines as analyzed by some websites include: American Cheerleader, Girls’ Life, J-14, M magazine, Popstar, Seventeen, Teen Vogue, Teens Voices and Twist. In these magazines, teenagers model out the outfits and the various beauty products. They change the styles with every season and every event. Currently, the “prom” is the event on the waiting list and the advertisers have done a good job in making available the dresses and the looks the teenagers should achieve before they attend it. On the Teen Vogue website, for instance, there are trendy topics which are accompanied by very catchy phrases, that not only get you hooked on it, but also it brings the urge to read some more. Examples include: while advertising for Prom Lipstick the catchy phrase used is- “let your lips do the talking” (Media Awareness, 2010, p. 1); for the White menswear- “head-to-toe white looks right” (Media Awareness, 2010, p. 1); and for a Retro daywear- “…foxy platforms will have you feeling groovy” (Media Awareness, 2010, p. 1). On J-14, while advertising a pair of Pajama Jeans; introduce it by saying you can wear pajamas to school! The story is the same for all the magazines; catchy statements with the aim of enticing the readers. Causes of Increased Advertising to teenagers Teenagers of course are at the development stage where they are creating an identity for themselves, learning to be independent and learning responsibility. The marketers and advertisers know this and they do not hesitate to reach out to them. Statistics have also indicated that marketers invest about $15 billion on advertising in a year, and the returns are overwhelming since about $600 billion will be directly as a result of the spending caused by advertisement (APA, 2004). With such a good profit margin, it would be unimaginable why some marketers would not want to venture into that market. Truth is there are many adverse effects that are directly as a result of these advertisements especially to teenagers. Effects of Fashion Advertising Sexuality The models who are used in the advertising media are the ones of a ‘perfect nature’ i.e. they have the right waistline, the right skin tone, the right weight, good hair etc. In short, no magazine will have an ‘ugly, overweight’ model. In an article by Media Awareness (2010),