Advertising

 As stated in the text book,  consumption is "an ideological necessity" in our culture.  Why is this?  Can you think of an example of how this plays out in our everyday lives?

• What are demands on companies?
• On consumers?
• What is effect on domestic sphere?

The mass production made possible by the industrial revolution created many of these conditions.

• New forms of display, new ways of shopping.
• New ways of looking, spending time, the flaneur
• Advertising becomes major forum for interpellation of consumers. Ideas of identity formed through these images.

 

Boulevard de Strasbourg, by Eugene Atget, 1912

Sustained capitalism has widened the gap between where things are made/how/who by and where they are sold/how/who to.

What is the 'commodity self?'

What are exchange value and use value?

How are these related to 'commodity fetishism'?

How does advertising function in 'commodity fetishism'?

 


How does advertising contribute to reification?

Advertising talks to the individual, appealing through a variety of identities, including the glamorous, the hip or cool, the cultured, the authority or group (nation, family, club), creating
pseudoindividuality and appealing to nostalgia.

The importance of Brands and brand recognition in the creation of identity:

The case of United Colors of Benetton and issues with multiculturalism:

Benetton stores in U.S., Italy, and U.A.E.:

Bricolage: