Free Essays, Term Papers, Research Papers at Anti Essays

Someone once said that “a smile confuses an approaching frown.” Smiles are an international sign for friendliness and happiness. This look at the smile over simplifies a somewhat already simple idea. When a baby is born or a first kiss comes to pass, a smile can crop up, but it can also be a sign of malice on the face of a murderer before he pulls the trigger or a thief who robs a store. When worn with a patronizing air, a smile can cause more harm than it brightens the world.
When speaking, ones facial expression sets the tone of the conversation. Body language of any kind affects the message being given but facial expression is the most noticeable. A smile or a frown can turn a potential argument into a civilized dialogue, and vice versa a scowl can turn a pleasant exchange into a much more strained conversation. A smile that crinkles the nose and scrunches the cheeks is known to be genuine and can brighten a day and erase brooding thoughts, whereas a smile that goes no further than the mouth and leaves the rest of the face in its original position can be easily seen as fake and cause a lack of faith between the two parties.
The smile has been commercialized just like many other unexceptional objects in today’s society. Wal-Mart is probably the most well known for using the smile in advertising. Their bright yellow smiley face signifies the store’s slogan to roll back prices, and is recognized by the majority of American cities. Interestingly enough Wal-Mart has begun to take steps to trademark the smiley face that is used in their commercials as well as many other places around the world causing a small scandal. That smiling face brings to people’s attention that the prices are low enough to be happy about and that the current customers are happy with the prices. On the other hand, some people have started to become annoyed with the idea of a smiley face due to its over use in the media and other forms of communication.
...