Chap 7

Ads are everywhere in our lives. So much so, that we have become accustom to seeing ads, brands, and billboards that we often tune them out. Advertisers constantly have to come up with new ways to get the public's attention. With all these different strategies, it is often hard to tell the difference between ads and culture jams, art and advertising, and between consumer culture and alternative culture.

Capitalism brought about consumer choice. People had multiple choices in what they wanted to buy, so the phrase 'power to the people' became true in just about every scenario in a capitalist society. Mobility and concentrations of people in cities have contributed to the rise of consumerism. With the help of mass transit people began to live mobile lives. Consumerism is closely tied to the mobility of people in their daily lives. As urban areas became more populous, city streets became gold mines for advertising. Global consumerism is largely influenced by the rise of online shopping in the 1990's. While online shopping was first used for eliminating overhead costs (price of building a store, etc) it has also led to expansion of companies all over the world. Window shopping was now possible by sitting at your computer.

The rise of 'therapeutic ethos' helped to bring about advertising in society. 'Therapeutic ethos' was a shift away from work ethic, civic responsibility and self denial to leisure, spending, and individual fulfillment. The idea that products will offer these new ideas is crucial to marketing and purchasing. One example of this is Coca Cola, who would advertise that it was for headaches and exhaustion (caffeine). Soon shopping was transformed from a mundane task of standing in line asking for bulk, unbranded items into a full body experience. Early shopping malls were created, where just walking about in the beautiful buildings was as important an experience as shopping itself. Visual pleasure helped turn shopping from a chore into a leisure activity. Window shopping brought about department stores, department stores brought about billboards, and billboards brought about envy, desire, and belonging.

Advertisements promise things to consumers. This is why we buy them. We want better lives, to look better, feel better, and own things that others will envy that we have. They offer us value, which all humans love. Ads also create a sense of belonging, which can be most easily seen in clothing line ads such as Tommy Hilfiger. One of the most important methods of gaining buyers is for a company to establish loyalty with consumers. Many ads address consumers about their relationship to a brand rather than the product.


Buying has become such an important aspect of ourselves, that many people identify themselves by the things that they buy. This is called 'commodity culture'. This could be seen in the cars people buy, clothing, house, shoes, etc. This leads to commodity fetishism, which can most easily be explained using an example. When you buy jeans, you don't know who fabricated them, where the materials came from, and you probably don't care. But if given a choice between two identical looking pairs of jeans, one with the Diesel brand and the other Levi, most people may choose Diesel because it has a higher social standing than Levi. This is commodity fetishism and is an inevitable outcome of mass production, advertising, marketing and distribution of goods to different consumers.

Then the book talks about chocolate and sexual images in ad campaigns (not related). Once again we get on brands again - which are very important in visual communication. Most people, given a choice between two products they know nothing about, will buy the one that they are most brand familiar with. Brands create loyalty, and turn consumers into fans, which can be seen recently in Apple. With the introduction of the iPod, there has been a fierce upbringing of loyal Apple fans who love just about anything Apple. This is exactly what Apple was hoping for, and it could not work out better for them. This Apple example falls well into the discussion about the marketing of coolness as well. The iPod, iPhone, and Macbook all have become 'cool' to have. People always want to appear cool to one another, so creating a product that can be seen as cool is wanted by many companies, particularly technology oriented businesses. Other examples of companies trying to be cool are Nike, Adidas, Gatorade, Pepsi, and many others.

Ads can also be created to oppose ads and culture. Political ads half the time are not used to promote a candidate, but demote the other. The recent presidential run used these techniques quite often, maybe even more so than others. So whether ads are used to sell a product, promote change in society, or critique others, they are no doubt important in everyday life.