Our lecture on Consumerism was incredibly interesting as a whole, albeit many disagreed and saw it as a rant at the current status of society, I saw it as a good stop for a moment of thought on how our minds actually work and why we are made to believe that we "need" products through methodical means of branding rather than the actuality of simply "wanting" something to fit into society and feel accepted.
The aims of the lecture were simple: Open our minds to what is out there in terms of branding and consumerism, to learn about the links between consumerism and unconscious desires (which leads us onto Freud), and to talk not only about Sigmund Freud's nephew, Edmund Bernays, but about consumerism as social control.
It would be unnatural not to talk about Freud in all of this, and so we discussed how the way humans control their animalistic desires is through consumerism. This is an interesting theory and I very much agreed with this and saw the logic behind how we might try to control our aggression, for example, through the "control" we have over what we buy. This is only a temporary fix however and the calm after a storm will be a vicious cycle of stress, consumerism, calm, and then back to stress again. Think about the stereotypical scenario of a female having a stressful day. She may go out and decide to undertake some "retail therapy" to boost her mood. Despite it being therapeutic for her having returned with a pair of designer shoes, it is not therapeutic for credit card, hence the sinister truth and persuasiveness of consumerism.
It seems well known and active within society that those who buy designer products are seen to be more affluent and wealthy, allowing these people better social opportunities and lifestyles in general. It seems that buying something seen to be exclusive to a certain group of people puts you in with one them, and with the deployment of clever advertising showing flawlessly photoshopped models in lavish scenarios holding that soon-to-be sought after product, the masses are exposed through media to this. Society will be made to want that product, and rather than wanting it, they will need it. It seems with the expansion of media and technology, we are essentially being suffocated by corporations to believe that our lives will be infinitely better having bought their product. The face value is, that most of the products we purchase will only give us a high for the few days we actually use it...
With many thanks to the Victorian era having being the real kickstarter, society has become incredibly materialistic, which is rather sad as we're most likely not seen for talents and skills we possess, but rather what we own and how much it was.
The use of personalisation of products helps to sell. Hartley's Jam and Aunt Jemima's Pancake Flour were a couple of which we touched upon in the lecture. By branding items with family names, we feel more intimate with the seller on naming terms. We feel we can trust the brand as it gives the sense of being personal and close to us. "Jam" just feels very robotic and bland - it doesn't have the same ring to it.
Edward Bernays, Freud's nephew, was essentially the birth of Public Relations. His ideas and beliefs were based on that of his uncle Freud, which in turn allowed him to write Crystallizing Public Opinion - 1923, and Propaganda - 1928. This was the time of product placement and celebrity endorsements in order to sell. Society was being blindly subjected to products everywhere, and by using celebrities to sell was a big hit.
I agree to one extent that we are not free in Western Consumerist Society, as we are brainwashed to believe that we need rather than want in order to meet repressed desires. We are definitely not what we own and I do think that consumerism can be seen as an "ideological project". Having said this, armed with the right knowledge of where our money is going and knowing how to make informed choices on what we buy, we have as much freedom as our minds will allow us.
We do indeed need to stop mindlessly shopping and start thinking.
