25th November
- Time Square, New York
Prime example of mass advertising
- Mass advertising - invades life/consciousness, people no longer have a choice but to view the ads as they are so in your face i.e. bill boards, tv ads, pop up ads etc
- Karl Marx 1818-1883 - 'Communist Manifesto' 1848, 'Das Kapital' 1867 (volume one)
- Critique of consumer/ commodity culture
In commodity culture we construct identities through the consumer products that inhabit our lives. This is what Stewart Ewan terms as 'the commodity self
- Judith Williamson author of decoding advertising
- Instead of being identified by what they produce, people identify themselves through what they consume i.e. symbolic associations (eg aftershave to sex appeal) trick consumer into believing (eg you will be more sex appealing if you wear this aftershave)
How does commodity culture perpetuate false needs?
- aesthetic innovation
- planned obsolence
- novelty (make us believe things that are untrue)
- (consider a level product design, something new and better i.e vinyls to cassettes to cd's to mp3's)
Commodity Fetishism
- Basically, advertising conceals the background 'history' of products. In other words the context in which a product is produced is kept hidden
Reification
- Products are givenhuman associations
- Products themselves are percieved as sexy, romantic, cool, sophistcatedm fun etc
- Frankfurt school (set up i 1923)
- Herbert Marcuse author of One Dimensional Man, 1964
- Seeks to make people unhappy with existing material possesions (i.e. the car i have isnt good enough), and potentially manipulates people into buying products that they don't need and don't even really want. Also encourages an addiction.
- Also encourages consumers, especially children, to want products and brands that they cannot afford, causing feelings of inadequacy and envy
- Victor Burgin
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