“I’m as guilty as anyone, but I think it’s time for us all to reflect on this.”
The mnmlst on consumption and advertising.
Really really appreciate this post!
I wish people would talk more about predatory advertising- how companies bank on our fears and prey on our insecurities, creating problems that we are pressured to solve with their products. Because of this, we are either constantly in “fix-it” (or “fix-me”…) mode or busy investing our time and finances towards an ideal life. The bigger problem is that the “ideal life” is being defined and commodified by corporations who are counting on us to buy into whatever that ideal is- very often and in large quantities.
Sarah Haskins- whose hilarious showTarget Women had a great run on Current TV- spoke well about how commercials- specifically those targeted towards women- “are very problem-oriented” and speak to a certain set of fears and insecurities they have. From my own TV watching as a lady, it seems like the most effective ads exploit those fears which directly challenge our identities and roles as mother, wife, girlfriend, bff, and object of desire.
It’s too bad the show ended sometime ago, but old clips live on in Current cyberspace.
The truth is, women’s attention to advertising is most critical since we make most of the purchasing decisions (85% according to one estimate!) and have great influence over the purchasing decisions in our social circles.
Still- we could all really use a media diet (ew- is it terrible that I’m using Big Advertising’s language to discourage Big Advertising? Anyway…). No big secret here, but ads can even affect us unconsciously. I’ve noticed for myself that the more time I spend in certain parts of the interweb (particularly around corporate sites, online shopping destinations, news sites (!), and ad-heavy/ product-oriented sites) or watching TV, my mood can really change (I’ll be really worried when that ab-belt starts looking less than ridiculous…). Of course, part of it is the smart, aspirational stories they create to make us want the piece of life on display or make us feel discontented with the appearance of the one we have. The result: we become consumed with ourselves- with fixing, changing, and keeping current.
I think our only way to avoid being pressured into the role of the constant consumer is to be really aware of the ads and their messages, and to keep their messages and their values from silently coalescing with (or even obscuring) our own.
Still, how do we do this in a world where everywhere we turn our attention is constantly being fought for, and where seductive ideas spread like wildfire through a rapidly growing list of new media each day? Can we really choose (thoughtfully?) which ideas affect us or even change our lives and which won’t?
#Questions of the century millenium…
