Lecture Notes

Aims
∙ Analyse the rise of US consumerism
∙ Discuss the links between consumerism and our unconscious desires
∙ Sigmund Freud - the system relies on manipulation
∙ Edmund Bernays - responsible for applying Freud's ideas at the birth of consumerism
∙ Consumerism as social control

Century of Self by Adam Curtis (2002)
No Logo by Naomi Klein (1999) - the bible of anti capitalism

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
∙ New theory of human nature

∙ The 'father' of Psychoanalysis - a new way of understanding human nature, radical

∙ Hidden primitive sexual forces and animal instincts which need controlling
    - Violent desires that can lead to chaos and destruction

∙ The Interpretation of Dreams (1899)

∙ The Unconscious (1915)

∙ The Ego and the ID (1923)

∙ Beyond the Pleasure Principle (1920)

∙ Civilization & It's Discontents (1930)
- Fundamental tension between civilization and the individual
- Human instincts incompatible with the well being of community
- The Pleasure Principle : If we can associate our primitive desires for death, sex, violence, pleasure in a socially acceptable way then we can become docile and happy
- Humanity will always be unhappy because of all the unfilled desires which must be released

∙ He argued that people aren't rational beings at all; we are "distinctual" and desire based

∙ The mind is broken into 3 parts - the ego, the superego and the ID

WW1 (1914-1918) - This shouldn't be a surprise, this is the nature of human beings in a society where they are suppressing their natural instincts.

Edward Bernays (1891-1995)
∙ Press Agent for celebs

∙ Nephew of Sigmund Freud

∙ Employed by public information during WW1 - Propaganda office

∙ Post war - set up 'The Council on Public Relations'
- The birth of the term PR

∙ Based on the ideas of Freud, he wrote books based on the principles that Freud wrote

∙ He learnt to link the desires that Freud mentioned to advertising, by applying the theory. He had incredible success applying psychological success by linking subconsciousness desires to products

∙ Easter Day Parade (1929) - he paid lots of beautiful young ladies (debutons) to walk in the middle of the parade down New York and then all light up their cigarettes in front of photographers. When this was photographed by the press he fed them a story that said that these women were a bunch of suffragettes and this was a political protest against the supression of women against the society - the cigarettes were torches of freedom against male suppression. This encouraged lots of women to smoke as they associated it with sexyness and freedom.

 

∙ 1924 - product placement, celebrity endorsements (helps link the product to glamour, sex appeal, desire, fame), the use of pseudoscientific reports (gave the products a gravity and made you think that smoking could be healthy). Applied smoking to the president through a song by Al Johnson.

Fordism
∙ Henry Ford (1863 - 1947)

∙ Transposes Taylorism to car factories of Detroit
Moving assembly line - standard production models built as they move through the factory. Requires a large investment, but increases productivity so much that relatively high wages can be paid, allowing the workers to buy the product that they produce
1910 - 20,000 cars produced, $850


∙ In the late 19th century, commodities were traded in light packages, but when you suddenly have thousands of things selling on the market, the products need to stand out - the very basis of modern consumer culture and creating brands for products


Aunt Jemima's Pancake Flour didn't sell, because housewives felt guilty and as though they weren't doing their role of being a housewife properly - they felt like they were cheating. So Aunt Jemima's changed their product so that it wasn't completely premixed, all you had to do was add an egg to it. This difference was psychologically changing as it fulfilled that desire to feed, be a mother and be able to cook.


∙ In 1909, adverts for cars were marketed on the idea that you were in control of where you drove, what you wanted to do, and the act of male sexual derivity. The ideas of cars made men feel sexy, made them feel like they were fulfilling their pleasures.

∙ In 1919, the idea of the brand becomes more sophisticated. The Cadillac is sold on the symbol of power and status. The neoclassical column in the background implies success and affluence.


∙ Chanel adverts based on desires. Wanting to be sexually powerful, rather than smelling nice. Using the photograph of the movie star makes the consumer want to be her and have her sexual allure.


Marketing Hidden Needs
∙ Selling emotional security

∙ Studies on fridge freezers - rather than saving you money, they actually make you waste a lot of money as you freeze a lot of food that you don't actually need. The successful technique to market fridge freezers is the emotional security of knowing that you have enough food in your house to feed your family and support them.

∙ Selling reassurance of worth - housewives represent a depressed free labour, but marketing companies realised that if you could trade on a sense of worth, then you could market to housewives very successfully.

∙ Selling ego-gratification - reassuring yourself that you are successful, you are powerful. It reaffirms to the consumer that they are who they are in their unconscious minds

∙ Selling creative outlets

∙ Selling love objects

∙ Selling sense of power - cars were always marketed with the sense of power


Blow In Her Face... attached the ideas of love, power, ego-gratification and even the idea of immortality. If you attach the idea of immortality then the consumer can even feel that they have the power beyond the grave.

1920
∙ A new elite is needed to manage the bewildered herd

∙ 'manufacturing consent'

∙ People started to feel happy as all of their desires were associated, and society became compliant

∙ The new political government became interested in the happiness of society

∙ 'Public Opinion' by Walter Lippmann - if we could feed the 'bewildered herd' the illusion that all of their desires are satisfied, then what you will have is a stable, ordered and easily controllable society.

Russian Revolution 1917
∙ Social revolution - the downtrodden and poor ganged together and threw over the rich, replacing it with a system of communist society based on the sharing of wealth

∙ America conceived this as scary, so wanted a system of mass social control

∙ Lippmann started to spread this idea of PR into governmental policy

∙ Keep the society peaceful and happy to stop America having a similar revolution to Russia

October 24th, 1929 - Black Tuesday
∙ Biggest stock market capital crash of the 20th century - loads of people lost their jobs and the American economy exploded

∙ Started The Great Depression


Roosevelt and the 'New Deal' (1933-1936)
∙ Came in on the back of a promise to introduce systems of social wealth-fare, benefits, retirement, pensions, investment in industry, jobs, etc

∙ Rather than a scheme of 'big business', this was about Governmental control. The businesses needed to be brought into line and this made the businesses anti Roosevelt

World's Fair, New York
∙ 'The Futurama' - giant model of how the world would look like if you replaced your faith in business and the commodity. The fair was full of futuristic inventions and buildings that could be America's. Promisses of new motions of travel and affluence - a depiction of what the world could be like.

∙ 'Democracity' - you can only be free if people start spending and buying again. This world could be yours, but at the cost of buying the future.

∙ Supposedly we can do what we want and we're not controlled by a government, unlike the communist Eastern countries. But when you start to analyse this, you realise that you are free from society, but you can't afford to live anywhere or get onto the property bloom. The freedom is actually limited to your affordability.

Conclusion
∙ "You are not what you own"
∙ Our society is based on the illusion of freedom
∙ Consumerism is an ideological project - it makes you docile and stops you from trying to change the world
∙ We believe that through consumption our desires can be met - The Consumer Self
∙ The legacy of Bernays / PR can be felt in all aspects of C21st society
∙ The conflicts between alternative models of social organisation continue to this day

To what extent are our lives 'free' under the Western Consumerist system?