The Hoover Company may have chosen to use language popular at the time, and to speak of a freedom. The CNN message is cast in the language of rights, reminding the viewer of his or her right to choose, with all the current resonance of that term. In either case, what is happening is the commodification of political discourse. The language of political ideals, of rights and freedoms, is being hijacked in order to dress purposeful commercial action in stolen clothes. Whether dressed as a freedom or a right, a commodifying logic appears as an act of self-legitimation, in almost pure form to the point of being unconnected, as in the CNN example, to any particular product. The implied message may well read: “No choice of freedom without the freedom
The “American Dream” has changed form dramatically since the term was first coined in 1931 by James Truslow Adams. By definition, it refers to the goal of the American people to pursue their own individual dreams with independence. However, considering the increased amounts of advertising in recent years due to the advancement of technology, are Americans actually making their own, uninfluenced decisions about the products they are purchasing? Kalle Lasn, the founder of the anticorporate AdBusters Media Foundation, would likely disagree. As the founder of this organization, the Estonian author’s goal is to inform average consumers about the hidden grime in advertising that they may not be aware of, such as discrimination and logical fallacies.
In Russ Baker’s essay “Stealth TV”, he talks about how companies are targeting children in school. He talks about how textbooks mention brand names in them, how corporations put their logos on materials they offer to schools, and how pop companies get schools to only sell their products “exclusively”. Also companies will give computers to schools that sometimes will track the behaviors of students and what they look at. That’s how corporations get their products to be seen in schools (320). That relates to us because corporations are trying to shove their names in people’s faces as much as possible so that people will buy from them. In the movie, Brawndo is seen everywhere, even in water fountains as opposed to water, which makes the people think that it is the brand of choice, and nothing else is acceptable. When Joe enters Frito’s house for the first time, you see that Frito’s TV screen is covered in advertisements. Also every time the Secretary of State would say something he would finish with “brought to you by Carl’s Jr” (Judge, Idiocracy). Every time he said that, he would get paid large amounts of money. With all that said, humans will be looking more at brand names which will help expand certain corporations. If corporations get too powerful then humans will always look up to them and maybe someday go to college in a
There is an eternal struggle in life, raging on between two monolithic entities, powerful enough to shake the very earth in their great conflict. These forces are, of course, government and private industries. When conflicts arise between the two, as they did during the Progressive Era, the result can change history. The aforementioned conflict took place as a result of a new technology that captured the imagination of the world, and subsequently America. Thanks to advancements in chemistry and mass production, the ability to record images on film and subsequently give them to the masses to observe and reflect upon was groundbreaking. Now people of all ages and classes were exposed to whatever could be filmed, and that was quite nearly everything.
The image “Corporate American Flag” may perhaps on another view point be perceived by means of 50 companies that rule the country that are greedy. By using constant commercials to drill the brand into the viewers, causing the brain to recognize their logos leading the viewers towards them. Through the market share of the commercial,
. . , Ford Motors, and the United Fruit Company” (Fernandez 3; line 4, 5, and 7). The corporations are imagery of “consumeristic propaganda” (Hawkins 43).
Unlike the other examples, the discussion video talks about the current economic situation. The views of the society has now been twisted by social media when people just consume for the purpose of being accepted. Infants start learning to differentiate between brands just as they’re born because they’re being exposed to brandings and advertisements in every situation. Without us noticing, media have slowly taken over our daily lives. Media control the masses and the masses control the economy and culture. This is simply another part of how media and culture influence each other.
However, we cannot disregard the influence of American companies such as the social media giants like Facebook and Google, as well as products of the American entertainment industry that have dominated the global market. While in the 20th century the focus was heavily upon political propaganda with the rise of social media in the 21st century and the ease of access to these networks through the internet and the technology associated with it sociological propaganda is becoming increasingly significant. Not only do technological advancements increase the pervasiveness of sociological propaganda but also the modern notions towards political propaganda are generally negative and untrusting. The majority of people are quite familiar with political propaganda and therefore are more conscious of these types of messages. This means that they will be more critical when hearing this type of message.
The commercial begins by depicting a scene in which a large group of people are marching in a synchronized single file line through a large tube while all wearing the same uniform and all having the same bald haircut. In accordance to Mill, this is the first instance of unfreedom in the commercial. Mill’s formulation of freedom is based on “pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it” meaning that in order to truly be free, people must have individual liberty so that one can pursue personal
The one conception of liberty that offers the most morally defensible analysis of a person in both of these circumstances is Negative Liberty, as it removes the restrictions on one’s ability to make something of themselves and survive. The one conception of liberty that offers the least morally defensible analysis is Positive Liberty, as it above and beyond what is necessary for a person to survive and thrive. Positive Liberty asks that we provide everything that one needs to thrive, while Negative Liberty maintains that we remove the restrictions on being able to attain those resources that are required for Positive Liberty to exist. In Two Conceptions of Liberty, Isaiah Berlin defines Negatively Liberty as “to be free to the degree to which
A Howl Against Capitalism: An Analysis of a Poet’s Political Metaphors Ginsberg’s Howl is decidedly not the kind of poem that inspires children in traditional elementary schools across the country to put their right hands on their breasts, face the flag, sing the national anthem. Contrariwise, the controversial poem uses Ginsberg’s signature repetitive prosody and metaphorical speech to figuratively pummel the living daylights out of the society we know as America. More specifically, it is Ginsberg’s unabridged, unyielding critique of American lifestyle in the post-World War II era of the 1950’s from the perspective of the optimistically poetic but down-trodden beatniks. His fast-paced, restless thrashing is perhaps a defining feature of
Fox News is a perfect example of the relevance of Marxist theories in modern, Western society. Characters like Rupert Murdoch epitomise Karl Marx’s example of the bourgeoisie, with their power hungry and money fuelled quests for superior economic capital, the news broadcasting industry as a whole, is one that is extremely corrupt. Although the BBC’s aims to logically avoid these discrepancies through its ‘funded by the proletariat’ setup, due to examples and individual cases like its subtle leaning towards the ‘No’ campaign at the time of the Scottish referendum, has monumental effects on modern culture, and this stance may have been one of the key, outlying reasons that Scotland is still a member of the United Kingdom. As a medium, news-broadcasting channels are unable to avoid these issues, and are prone to manipulation and biases throughout various
The Microsoft ad […] hopes that the subliminal image if the Bill of Rights will activate the viewers concepts of the dangers of government interference in the private sector, and that those concepts will influence viewers opinions about Microsoft and its products (par 10).
This week focused on corporate power and how this power has influenced our government as well as us the consumers. This day and age we’ve become obsessed with “keeping up with the Joneses,” to the point where the average house has doubled in size and we throw out 4.5 pounds of garbage a day. It’s no wonder we create so much trash since we tend to throw away 99 percent of the “stuff” we’ve purchased every 6 months. How did we get to this place? In the story “ The Story of Stuff,” we saw how corporations and the government along with the media bombard us every day, about 3,000 times a day, with commercials and advertisements to buy, buy, and buy some more. Raymond J. Saulnier, the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, was quoted
The main factor this film represents is all of the damage done to Americans when corporations engage
Advertisements work in such a way that we grow to envy those we are not; they exploit our perceived flaws by displaying a person who is the living and breathing version of who we wish to be. John Berger in his book, Ways of Seeing, explains that publicity works by convincing his reader that advertisements use envy to entice the public to buy products: “Publicity persuades us...by showing us people who have apparently been transformed and are, as a result, enviable” (131). Though Berger published his book in 1972, his arguments about envy and publicity still hold truth, perhaps now more than ever. Furthermore, the more present advertisements are in our everyday life, the more envious our society becomes. With the power of envy, those who fall under its spell become choiceless, and therefore powerless. Berger also argues in his book that there is a correlation between the number of advertisements we see and the less freedom Americans possess. However, Berger believes that capitalism hides this powerlessness with the illusion of choice: “Publicity helps to mask and compensate for all that is undemocratic within society” (149). This idea Berger has relates not only to the advertisement of products, but also to present-day politics. Withheld information creates power using envy which is used in both advertisements and the US government. As more envy is created with modern day technology, and we become more immersed into social media, the further we stray from democracy.