- Desire for Products through Greed
- The False Need for Commodities (Manufacturing Desire) vs Real Needs
- False Commodities cause Stratification and Inequality- Inequality is disguised by the Illusion of
Freedom
- This was caused by Mass Production through Advertising and Branding
- Freud- Irrational Desires and Animal Instincts "The Pleasure Principle"
- Berneys brought the 2 Concepts together through Public Relations
- This produced the argument over Social Control vs Freedom
- Consumerism acts as a Palliative to the world around us
From this, we were put into Groups of 5 and given separate pages from the final chapter of the book "Ways Of Seeing" by John Berger that we had to discuss within the group. We had to make notes on the key points of the pages.
Pages 132-135:
- Perception of wanting a Product by giving the Perception of what Life could be like with the Product.
- The advert can't be too far away from the grasp of the audience yet it can't be too easy or it will
loose its mystique.
- Proposals Small Changes to our Lives rather than Life Changes
- Publicity is based on the selfish Desire to be envied by Peers and how we are happy when people
want to be like us- Provides a justification to love yourself. By buying the product, you see yourself
as an object of desire.
- The enviousness of others holds the impression of having Power and Control over others
- Comparison between oil paintings and photography-based adverts
- both use Wealth and Affluence as well as a Cultural and Social Authority, Dignity and
Wisdom- a sense of Cultural Superiority
- Despite the Mediums, it connotes Luxury and Quality in presentation
- Use of same voice persuading and flattering the buyer
- Difference is art portrays what you have whereas Advertisements portray what you don't
After that, we had to tell our findings on our pages from the last chapter to the rest of the group as well as us listening to the findings from the other groups.
Page 129-131:
- Can't escape advertising- it surrounds us
- Adverts look into the past and towards the future- never into the present as it is changing the now
- Advertising never reflects reality
- You can strive for it but you will never reach it- never gets happiness
- Comparing Eastern and Western Culture and what one has and the other hasn't
- Competition between individuals over what they own- 'Anti-Community'
- Products become obsolete as people want the latest models- link to emotion
Page 142-145:
- Anxiety and Publicity- if you have nothing, you will be nothing
- To stop Anxiety, you need to Indulge and spend Money- Those with Money become Loveable
- Purpose of anxiety publishing is to be dissatisfied with life- by buying, you'll be happy with your own life within society
- Appeals mainly to the Working Class to show a transformation like a fairy tale whereas Middle Class shows a transformation of relationships
Page 148-149:
- Pursuit of Happiness is the right of the Individual
- Balancing meaningless work hours with an imaginary dream future- the personal dreams of the
individual- you'd like to live your own life but to a certain degree, you can't
- Buying stuff instead of having a say in how the world works
p151-154:
- Adverts juxtapose the dark news articles with the safety shown in adverts
- You'll never do anything to help others so this is to aid you and make you feel better- make you think your helping when your actually doing nothing
- To comprehend the horrors of reality, we would have to abandon our comfort zones- look the other
way
- A lesser human desire is to help people- by giving a bit of money, you feel good but your not doing
anything- the easy way out
- Dream World of Advertising is eventless and Immune to the harsh realities of life
Study Task:
From this, we have to apply the consumer system to an advert analysis and describe how the advert effects the physical and mental conditions of consumerism. We need to use quotes from John Berger's 'Ways of Seeing' to back up our points and it needs to be 500 words in length.
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"BMW's Ultimate Attraction"
Ad Strategy (2010) "BMW's Ultimate Attraction" [Internet] Available from http://adstrategy.wordpress.com/2010/03/18/bmws-ultimate-attraction/ (Accessed 21st October 2013)
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The concept of consumerism is based on the theory's of Sigmund Freud which was then put into operation within advertising by Edward Berneys. His ideals were based on psychoanalysis on human nature, believing that humans have hidden primitive sexual forces and violent animal instincts that need controlling and that they have been repressed within society which, if unleashed, could lead to chaos. Raw human desire is incompatible with the laws and systems put in place by society and due to this, humans will always be dissatisfied. Freud developed the idea of "The Pleasure Principle", thinking that if one's desires are fulfilled in a socially acceptable way, we are docile, happy and content. It is this principle that Berney's employed to the marketing of business.
This BMW advert depicts an attractive, semi-naked male in bed and on top of a semi-naked female body, already playing on 'The Pleasure Principle' but instead with the female's head covered by a magazine with a double page spread showing a new BMW model of car. Instantly, the first thing you notice about the advert is the provocative, sexualised imagery which appeals to the primitive animal instincts that are suppressed by society, in particular towards men. The idea of owning a BMW car is linked to the idea of owning your own source of women, power and control, visually shown by the fact that the man is on top of the women in a more dominate position. Berger sees this as "the anxiety on which Publicity plays is the fear, that by having nothing, you will be nothing." (Berger, 1972, p143) This advert insinuates to the consumer that by not having this brand, you will not achieve any of these goals.
This consumerism acts as a palliative to the real world, with people believing that they are making the choice to purchase items to make them happy whereas it is a means of social control via the marketing of the product. The marketing promises to make a difference to the lives of the consumer and "to make the consumer marginally dissatisfied with his present way of life. Not with the way of life in society, but with his own within it. It suggests that if he buys what it is offering, his life will become better. It offers him an improved alternative to what it is" (Berger, 1972, p142). From this, the poster is suggestive towards a male audience that by having this brand, you will be able to achieve the same desirability and lifestyle as the male model in the poster, as stated by Berger, "Publicity is always about the future buyer. It offers him an image of himself made glamorous by the product or opportunity it is trying to sell"(Berger, 1972, p132). The poster is giving the message, 'If you buy this brand, you'll not only dream of being this guy, but you will be this guy'.
Word Count: 529
Reference/ Source Book:
Berger, J. (1972) "Ways Of Seeing"1st ed., London: British Broadcasting Corporation and Penguin Books
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