Question? The last time you watched a favorite program,how many commercials did you watch telling you to "Go Green?" How about this. How many times did you question the genuineness of the source?
Earlier today, after reading from David Gauntlett's book "Media, Gender and Identity," something dawned on me that surprisingly related to what I was reading. I then decided to switch on the TV. for 30 minutes and discovered that 1 out of every 4 commercials that I watched were about "Going Green." Nothing wrong with that right?
Would something be wrong if you knew that as a "consumer" you were intentionally being targeted by big companies that figured out that the idea of going green was appealing to the majority of Americans including you? So of course the best way to make sure you buy into their "commodities," is to lure you with what your culture is saying is the "cool" thing to do regardless of weather they truly are "Going Green" or not. This is what Theodor Adorno talks about when he emphasizes that the media have the power in the section "media power versus people power."
He mentions how products of a culture follow the values of a system already in place. In this case, "Going Green." We are all for it, and we all know that if we don't do this as much as we can, our planet is going to spontaneously combust or something like that. So how clever to get a point across attached to a commodity. The ad campaign screams, "Hey, Go Green, and while you're at it, get a new Prius, Covergirl green eyeshadow,New computer." The list is endless.
Though I agree with Gauntletts'view in chapter one about how audiences have changed and how people are more interactive, I think Adorno's point that we at times consume without thinking is true.
However, let’s not destroy our planet, really. Go Green!
it makes you wonder how many of these green products really are helping our environment, or if being "green" is just being used as a marketing ploy. it's frustrating because the innocent issue (yet crucial for humanity) of saving the planet has been turned into not only an advertising mechanism but also a political debate. since when did we have to be liberal to think that global warming is a real issue? because of that, it's hard to know for sure that green products and green companies really want to help the planet, or if they're just trying to sell products...or even promote a political ideology.
ReplyDeleteIf we like "green" things, and retailers are using green-oriented marketing to sell us green things, is that a problem? Isn't this just a case of businesses selling us what we want to buy? What's the problem?
ReplyDelete(I'll confess to a slight bit of devil's advocate role-playing in this comment.)
Sounds like the capitalist conglomerates are finally paying attention to the people's voices, though for the wrong reasons. It's up to us in the end to police them and make sure that what they label as "Green" is as advertised, that way everyone gets what they want, and isn't that really what the world needs?
ReplyDeleteThought-provoking article...