Advertisements for alcohol, tobacco and diet products sometimes sell more than merchandise to consumers.

Visiting lecturer Jean Kilbourne, an expert on advertising trends, will examine the effect ads have on people’s ideas and lifestyles tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. at Van Meter Hall.

Trish Jaggers, office assistant for the women’s studies department, which is co-sponsoring the lecture, said that students in particular are sought out by alcohol and tobacco companies.

“They are pushed toward the younger generation in a much more glamorous way,” Jaggers said. “If we like it or not, students in that age group are the very targets that Jean talks about.”

Jaggers said that Kilbourne will use slides in her presentation, titled

“Deadly Persuasion: Advertising and Addiction.”

“People won’t be bored,” Jaggers said. “They will be entertained.”

Azurdee Garland, a Campus Activities Board assistant, said the lecture will show a different take on advertising.

“It will be interesting to see how commercials sell us more than just the product,” Garland said.

Kilbourne has created several award-winning documentaries, such as “Slim Hopes” and “Killing Us Softly,” which deal with the image of women in advertising.

Kilbourne also wrote a book on the subject, titled “Deadly Persuasion: Why Women and Girls must Fight the Addictive Power of Advertising.”

Kilbourne is internationally known and has twice received the Lecturer of Year Award from the National Association for Campus Activities.

There will be a question-and- answer session after the presentation, followed by book sales and book signing.

The lecture is presented by Women’s Studies program Catherine Coogan Ward Visiting Professorship, Campus Activities Board, the Rhodes Helm Lecture Series and Potter College of Arts and Humanities and Social Sciences.

Reach Marlene Brueggemann at [email protected].