ENG 1100 Chapter 0: Article Summary - Little Elves and Mind Control
Document Summary
Can we never escape from the legacy of the frankfurt school which saw the individual in mass capitalist culture as having lost all powers of critical perspective. Advertisements selling perfume, cosmetics and lingerie are taken to stand for advertisements in general. Advertising discourse dissuades as much as it persuades. Advertisements neutralize each other and rapidly reach a saturation level in the consumer"s consciousness. Manufacturers do not rely on advertisements to sell their products. Schudson"s extensive research and conclusions, in particular his account of the extent to which advertising is unsuccessful in selling, are, indeed, persuasive. The psychoanalytic planning involved in getting people to buy things by appealing directly to their unconscious through symbols would be truly phenomenal. The creation of false needs and wants has been widely assumed to be the principal mechanism of advertising manipulation. Who is to say we have not freely chosen this path to the satisfaction of our needs, any less than the person who engages.
