Consumerism wants you to hate yourself
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
In a market that relies on the competition between companies, like the market in the United States, various marketing strategies need to be employed for companies to try and come out as the ‘top dog.’ Though differing products, audiences, and ways of advertising certainly influence the kinds of campaigns that different companies may run, it often feels like the underlying thread of all of these is to tell people, “Your life is bad and our product will make it good.”
While I understand why the market runs this way, it’s a way to create a demand for their own supply, which also does not mean that this kind of mentality in the market works to inspire cheer and joy amongst the masses.
In fact, a study conducted by Andrew Oswald and his fellow researchers, it was found that “When you look at changes in national happiness each year and changes in ad spending that year or a few years earlier—and you hold other factors like GDP and unemployment constant—there is a link.” And this link is certainly nothing to scoff at, with it being estimated that, “…if you doubled advertising spending, it would result in a 3 [percent] drop in life satisfaction. That’s about half the drop in life satisfaction you’d see in a person who had gotten divorced or about one-third the drop you’d see in someone who’d become unemployed.”
Ads see the most success when they can convince us that our lives are not enough, that we are not enough, and can think to themselves that it is nothing but a nice, clean, cold, word: strategy. I feel, however, that an industry committed to making us feel and think negative things is one that is best ignored. I know —one of those things that is easier said than done— but since working towards trying to combat this creeping negativity myself, I’ve found a lot of power in reframing the ways in which I think about advertisements and, honestly, how I think about myself.
One practice I’ve really taken to is immediately asking the ‘who’ and ‘why’ when I come across ads, meaning who is selling this to me and why does it want me to want their product? I’ve found that this can really help me see some of the flaws of an ad and recognize more readily how certain advertisements or industries, like the beauty industry, prey upon common insecurities people have, like their appearance or economic status, to try and make their audience want.
For example, when watching a facial cleanser ad, it might frame their product as a way to ‘look beautiful right out of bed’ with curated models and actors showing off their clear faces in their staged beds and staged outfits, who are —in all likelihood— wearing makeup in these advertisements. This advertisement might aim to make us feel like we all should be looking magnificent and presentable right from the moment we rise from bed, but that is not feasible.
People look like they just woke up when they wake up, even global models and celebrities, and no facial cleanser can solve things like bed head, clothes wrinkling, bad breath, or that groggy look on our faces— nor can any facial cleansing product actually guarantee that it will clear up your skin.
I would also argue that our aim should not be to look perfect when we wake up, as this kind of thinking can create negative impressions of ourselves— or at any time. When we fail to live up to these impossible standards that center attractiveness as the end-all, be-all quality of our lives (and we will), it can result in some pretty damaging conceptions of ourselves and just add onto all the other components of life that seemingly try to make us feel hopeless and desperate. While there is no inherent shame in wanting to look presentable and have others find us appealing, there has to be a limit, and I think looking a little mussed before and after sleep is a place where we can be preoccupied elsewhere.
Another method I’ve found to be really helpful is trying to move myself away from the language of “good” and “bad” and remove these moralistic terms from the idea of my belongings and myself. A lot of this comes from a broader interest in the body neutrality movement, which is certainly not perfect, but I feel it has some good teachings in its essence. Its idea about centering ideas of function as opposed to appearance is one that I find to be particularly empowering.
Considering whether I already have products that fit an item's stated purpose, if it is actually a need I’ve identified in my life, or if it is something more concerned with aesthetics than functionality are factors that can really help me fight the consumer in me. Like, yes, would a bigger and cuter water bottle be nice? Of course! But I already have a water bottle that is easy to bring around with me in all kinds of bags and carries water just fine.
Ultimately, I think it is vital that we each explore what it might mean to choose to be content in a world that is committed to making you feel like you are missing something, or more specifically, that you are missing something only these companies can provide you. From this, I think there is the potential for powerful insights about our world and how we interact in its careful ecosystem.