Advertising and consumerism

Let me explain the idea of advertising. It is to make us believe we somehow will feel better if we possess the thing they’re advertising for. Advertisements create images of people we want to be and tell us, that if we buy this and that, we’ll be them. That’s why they get famous, beautiful people to advertise for, for example L’Oreal. They project needs we don’t have, over to us.Things give us status. One of the biggest waves of materialism there has been so far, was in the 80’s, with the yuppies (young urban professionals). The Yuppies were well-educated, successful, young people with big bank accounts who seeked status through the things they bought.A great example is Patrick Bateman, a fictional character from the book American Psycho. He’s a yuppie. In the 80’s people became living billboards.

Another famous book from the 90’s, Fight Club, was written by an author names Chuck Palahniuk. One of his main themes is his characters (which in Fight Club is Tyler Durden) who tries to escape consumer culture and exposure to media and ads. They fight it in their different ways. Tylers way was just a bit anarchistic.Fight Club and Tyler Durden is a bit inspired by the Cacophony Society, who’s: “A randomly gathered network of free spirits united in the pursuit of experiences beyond the pale of mainstream society.” They are known for their anarchistic nature and the rough pranks they played on each other.