Tuesday 27th November 2012
"Critical Positions on Advertising" Seminar Notes
Richard Miles
In Britain, 25 million print adverts are made a year
Times Square, New York- sensory bombardment of publicity- literally surrounded by ads
Pop Up Adverts, Banners and Targeted Adverts- Adverts actively seeking you out
Communist Manifesto of 1848- Marx idea led a different thought process- Critical of Capitalism
"The Commodity Self"- Stewert Ewen
- Identify ourselves from what we buy
- Buying an identity rather than creating one
- Superficial, Less than Human
- Punk: Originally making and doing. now your buying the look
Buying for the product to do a job. Prided on the products serviceability
"The Uncle Sam Range"
- Trying to sell everything but the cooker
- Buying the symbolic association attached to the product
- Idea lives and promises of a better future
Symbolic Associations
- Selling popularity, inclusion and friendship
- Desirability, glamour and youth
- Makes us feel like we need something to be a certain person
How does Commodity Culture perpetuate false needs?
- Aesthetic Innovation
- Planned Obsolescene
- Novelty
Aesthetic Innovation:
- Cooler, Sexier product
- Fashion "Capitalist Baby"
Novelty:
- Newest is automatically better
- Relies on false needs that we willingly submit to
Planned Obsolescence:
- When business build the best thing years in advance so people will keep buying
Commodity Fetishism:
- Where the context of the product;s production is hidden from the consumer
- Hidden by the branding power
- Key Marxist concept
Reification:
- Key Marxist Concept
- Distance human relationships
- Products given human characteristics
- 1930's German Marxist writer researching mass consumer culture- Think in a limited way, don't think
independently
John Berger 'Ways of Seeing'- Major works that started the critique
Comparison between Art and Commodity
- Fashion- Role of goddess has been removed by the model
- Art- Commissioned painting would show the owners riches and lifestyles
- Advertisements- Show us the lifestyle that we could have
Advantages:
- Subsidising the media quality- without the money, form and revenue, it couldn't pay for quality TV or
other things
- Economy- Without people spending, we wouldn't be able to reinvest in the world
- Combatting stereotypes- Playing on them to destroy them
Disadvantages:
- Stereotyping women
- Unhappiness with material possession
Conclusion:
- "Kleenex Culture"- Throw away over and over again
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