Right, I thought I
would start with this clip first just to let you all know that I
agree 100% with what Bill Hicks had to say on advertising and
marketing and the effects that it has on a consumer society. With
that mini rant out of the way I’ll casually move onto the
reading.
The reading was at times a very complex one, but after a few re-reads I finally got to grips with the concluding message and what it was trying to portray, (just like many of Andys lectures.) One of the most important quotes that stuck out to me was “the idea is that we consume what objects stand for rather than the products themselves and their product function” (McStay:342) This is because this is the side of advertising that I detest the most, this whole idea that you will become a tall handsome African American if you buy just one pair of Calvin Klein Boxers, or you will have a life time supply of unlimited friends if you get the latest I-Phone, in the end it's
all bullshit and you will still be the same unattractive boring person with or without some very tight underwear.
Throughout the reading there is a sense of consumer belonging, the urge for one to become part of something through the use of their wallet and the products they buy. No one wants to ever feel like they've been left out but spending vast amounts of money on stuff you don't need just seems pretty pointless to me, and at the end of the day, all it is is 'STUFF' and you're stuff should not define who you are as a person but merely give a glimpse into your likes and dislikes and not what you aspire to be.
The reading was at times a very complex one, but after a few re-reads I finally got to grips with the concluding message and what it was trying to portray, (just like many of Andys lectures.) One of the most important quotes that stuck out to me was “the idea is that we consume what objects stand for rather than the products themselves and their product function” (McStay:342) This is because this is the side of advertising that I detest the most, this whole idea that you will become a tall handsome African American if you buy just one pair of Calvin Klein Boxers, or you will have a life time supply of unlimited friends if you get the latest I-Phone, in the end it's
all bullshit and you will still be the same unattractive boring person with or without some very tight underwear.
Throughout the reading there is a sense of consumer belonging, the urge for one to become part of something through the use of their wallet and the products they buy. No one wants to ever feel like they've been left out but spending vast amounts of money on stuff you don't need just seems pretty pointless to me, and at the end of the day, all it is is 'STUFF' and you're stuff should not define who you are as a person but merely give a glimpse into your likes and dislikes and not what you aspire to be.
Don't get me wrong though, I don't see all advertising as an evil plan sent here to warp all our brains, that’s only product advertising. Advertising can be a good thing to, in helping to raise awareness for certain charitable causes such as the RSPCA adverts which are aimed to help us feel bad about Barry The Bear because he lives in a circus in Eastern Europe and in many cases it seems to work and although people do spend money on them at least they were doing it for the right reasons and not just to become something they are not.
In conclusion I did enjoy this reading as it did convey certain other ideologies on why there is a consumer society and why people do spend money on stuff they don't actually need in their lives.
The Reading - McStay, A, (2009) "Consumer Society and Advertising"
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