Marx’s sarcastic comment truly continues to relate to the world in which we live in today. He fights the common ideology in today’s society about the value placed on material goods and why that value is given to certain products. I would like to comment of Marx’s idea and further look at the ideology of consumerism and our relationship with the media...
In one of my classes we learned that on average consumers are exposed to 3,000 advertisements each day, but we only notice 30. This fact truly opened my eyes to how un-avoidable the messages of the media and brands are. The persuasive nature of everything around me became overwhelming after learning how many messages are thrown at us on a daily basis. The moose logo plastered all over the boy’s shorts next to me would have been unconsciously consumed before that class. I never would have thought twice about the consequences that may result from simply wearing a logo, and all of the factors that go into making a simple t-shirt. People turn into walking billboards—paying to wear a logo and perpetuate the brand which in turn contributes to the success of the company. I had never before recognized how everything I saw was shaping both my common sense and my beliefs about nearly everything I perceived.
Even though this media class fundamentally changed my understanding of the relationship between the mass media and society, I’m not so foolish as to think I am completely immune from the allure of these messages. Being a more informed consumer helps me to see the hidden motives of the mass media, but I still find myself, from time to time, giving in and perpetuating this unhealthy relationship. I mean who doesn’t want a designer bag over a cheap knock-off? And I find it nearly impossible not to strive to fit the rigid ideal of beauty and social acceptance that the media presents. It’s clear to me how inescapable the persuasive messages are. And even a complete awareness of this troubling relationship between the mass media and society does not protect us from the power of the appeal.
So what does it take to resist the appeal and avoid giving in to and perpetuating the ideology presented by the media?
And the fact that advertisers are most successful with children is the creepiest part of it. Ideology is all around us; sometimes seems hard to escape it.
ReplyDeleteBut ironically, as Klein will later get to in the book, the designer bags and cheap knock-offs are today made by the same factory!!!
I like to think of myself as an original person, but I agree that in many ways I find myself striving for that ideal image we are fed. If not in the blatantly obvious ways of wanting to wear certain brands, the ideological "lifestyles" that companies and the media constantly tell us are normal and coveted become a given part of everyday life. Even when we think we are being original or wearing something unique, it is hard to tell if it is something solely from our own minds (if anything can be that) and is usually something that we saw in a magazine/heard someone say/saw on TV, etc.
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