Times square in New York - full of advertising, like many other places
1990s - 11,000 new TV adverts per year
25 million print adverts per year
Advertising inescapable - affect our concious and subconious mind
Karl Marx - born 1818 died 1883
wrote the communist manifesto in 1848
wrote Das Kapital in 1867
Marxism - critique of consumer culture, commodity culture
We construct identity through products and consumerism
The idea that you shouldnt be defined as a person by what you own but by who you are
Lives are run buy products and advertising
Stuart Ewan calls it the "consumer self"
Symbolic association plays a key part in products and their meanings
Perpetuating false needs -
Aesthetic Innovation
Planned Obsolesence (Products today are built to eventually break so that new ones have to be bought)
Novelty (new, different, exciting)
Commodity Fetishism:
Products use advertising and campaigns to hide their history
Reification:
Products are given human associations
(e.g. Cool, sexy, romantic)
Creates a human-like close attatchment to products
Herbert Marcuse wrote "The One Dimensional Man" in 1964
Positives:
Advertising produces money and makes society richer
The money can often be used for ethical things and lots of things aside from advertising
Negatives:
Teaches people tht they are inadequate
can advertise to children who are more likely to be affected
Makes people want things that they cant afford
No comments:
Post a Comment