A Longer Look at...Adverts (growl!)
Oh, how I hate adverts...
The images on products like toothpaste and shampoo etc are mainly designed to create a false image of the product as being connected to THIS feeling or THAT ideal, etc. Buy product A and you will feel this good, look that great, be important and cool. Essentially it’s lying and cheating in order to get you to part with your money for such and such a product. How despicable...
Now, how would this differ in a better, non capitalist society? What may happen instead is that artists will be asked to make some paintings, drawings, designs that are beautiful or interesting or fun. Just that – whatever they wished to do as artists, for the sake of it being interesting, beautiful, fun. And that would be on the product, to make it look, well… interesting or beautiful or fun. And that’s all. No cheating the consumer, no pretending that A,B or C product will get you A,B and C wish/dream/happy state. The product itself will be functional – the text on it will described in clear ways, plainly stated that it is useful for this or that purpose. Dandruff shampoo will says clearly its for dandruff. Washing up liquid will say simply ‘Liquid for washing dishes’. It will do exactly what is says on the tin!... but then since there will be some room for an image too probably, then the artist’s come in and stick in there something… interesting or beautiful or fun. Or all three!
Think how much more happy and free the artist and designers connected to product design will be. No more lying and cheating to consumers. No more feeling disgusted deep inside about the shallowness of your work or having to do things to please cretinous bosses. Instead their artistic talents are being put towards making something - once again - interesting, beautiful, fun. And that’s all. How much more fulfilled they will be, healthy and happy in their work. Imagine millions of such people feeling more fulfilled, healthy and happy in their work. THAT is what a better society would look like. And this is not a hippy utopia. This is a very simple and practical thing.
Another habit that adverts use is to anthropomorphise the products or service, as if its a thing, normally a cute pet like thing that we can have a relationship with. But of course, in reality (THIS reality, the one we're standing in the now), the product has no awareness, no consciousness - it doesnt know who we are or care about us, it doesn’t even think. It's a thing. cold and empty. Why are we wasting our energy on the arsehole?
A good example of this is KUMAMON, the mast of the town i live in, Kumamoto, Japan. This daft bear, who can't even speak Japanese, has exploded in popularity, becoming a national and now international phenomena. He even got 100,000s of messages during the earthquake of 2016, from folk worried about how this non-existent creature was. As we say in Scotland: Jeezo! How about a bit more attention to the actual human beings made homeless by the disaster? We have to say that such an over focus does not seem a positive thing, psychologically. Though, it has brought in quite a lot money to Kumamoto - but in a very daft way.
A good example of this is KUMAMON, the mast of the town i live in, Kumamoto, Japan. This daft bear, who can't even speak Japanese, has exploded in popularity, becoming a national and now international phenomena. He even got 100,000s of messages during the earthquake of 2016, from folk worried about how this non-existent creature was. As we say in Scotland: Jeezo! How about a bit more attention to the actual human beings made homeless by the disaster? We have to say that such an over focus does not seem a positive thing, psychologically. Though, it has brought in quite a lot money to Kumamoto - but in a very daft way.
Another point: the main aim of adverts is to make you feeling dissatisfied with what you have so you buy more stuff to achieve satisfaction. Obviously that is needed in a capitalist society, because if everyone was happy with this old car, that old dress etc and didn't bother contantly to buy! buy! buy! then the economy would go WAY down. But think of the consequences of specifically creating a population full of disatisfied customers - deliberately creating unhappy people! Living in an unhappy country! What a horrible perverted thing that is to create - on purpose.
And the adverts have the cheek to show lots of smiling, healthy, slim people who are constantly on holiday and eating out in expensive resturants and live in big houses, despite almost never doing any work. And saying if you are NOT like this then there is something wrong with you, you are low and a loser. And then wondering why there is so much self hate, crime, drunkenness, drug abuse and general dissatisfaction.
Adverts very rarely feature the people who actually MAKE the product, and only moderately more do they show the people who provide the service. It seems like an underlying norm that they do not want us to focus on the PEOPLE involved in the production of the product. They prefer, by far, that we focus on the product only. They prefer that we think of the products pretty much appearing by magic, by santa's elves maybe.
It is an example of the central capitalist thing of 'consume the product, do not connect with the people' ... even though they often show the actor of the advert connecting with other people in the process of consuming the product. This is the irony... in focusing us on consumerism as a source of pleasure and solace they take away from the human desire for actual connection with other humans for pleasure and solace, yet make it seem as if they two aspects are very closely connected.
Imagine an advert like this: we are taken on a tour of the factory that makes product X featured in the advert, by the actual workers there. Those workers run the place as a co-operative, share in the decisions made and the benefits produced. We never see such adverts partly because that would encourage a feeling of connection to those people in a way that threatens capitalism.
Adverts can only be good in the sense of the artistic elements. The basic nature and aim of adverts is always negative: to deceive us into buying stuff we dont need, and make us feel inadequate without that product/service. That basic aspect shouldn't be forgotten. The fact that it gives work to creative people of various types does not excuse the underlaying negative nature. We should have a system where people can CREATE without having to SELL CRAP. Why not?
A trend of adverts in Japan is to show a busy young female worker who is then happy and relieved to get her hands on a drink after work. The association being, of course, that such drinks mean relaxation and de-stressing from your troubles. This is, in my view despicable…these scumbag companies praying on people’s overwork, stress, emotional troubles, loneliness and lack of real support…in order to make money by poisoning them, body an soul.
In the future we will look back at this kind of advertising with shame, wondering how we ever let them profit from people’s emotions in this vulture type way, encouraging us to develop unhealthy drinking habits and ruin our health.. and then present all that as ‘fun’. It's likely that in the future this type of advertising will be seen as a shameful abuse. like sending children up chimneys.
Yep, I HATE adverts.