Hal Himmelstein: Ch. 3 Advertising

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Hal Himmelstein Ch. 3 Advertising

• Ads sell a way of life a brave new world in
  which fulfillment is achieved through
  consumerism.
• Industry ads utilize pecuniary pseudotruths.
• Pecuniary pseudotruth a false statement made to
  sound as if it were true, but is not intended to
  be taken as literal truth. (Example a diet ad
  directed toward women stating less is more.)

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Pecuniary Pseudotruth

• A self-interested half-truth or lie, intended to
  serve the profit interests of industry.
• Asks the viewer to be fuzzy minded and impulsive.
• A type of non-rational, emotionalize appeal.
• Commonly used.

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Pecuniary pseudotruths are morally questionnable

• 1. Where the issue is human suffering, there must
  be no deceit.
• 2. When the produce being marketed is a political
  candidate or platform.
• 3. When the target of the ad is children.

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Pecuniary pseudotruths

• Children exposed to pecuniary pseudotruths are
  more likely to develop a cynical sense by late
  childhood that adults lie to them in manipulative
  ways.
• The hidden message of deceitful ads is that it is
  OK to lie.
• Himmelstein it is unethical to promote deception
  as a means to self-interested profit.

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Consumerism- a way of life

• The larger moral question involves the morality
  of acquisitiveness in American culture.
• The acquisitive character is manifested in
  consumer culture by such strongly held values as
• Private property (which gets a high priority)
• Competition to win
• Achievement at the expense of others
• Himmelstein This value system reflects the
  values of modern capitalists, but may be harmful
  to the public interest. Should the economic
  sector be so influential?

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Indoctrination

• Ads indoctrinate children into believing that it
  is right to consume, to go into debt, to notice
  the flaws in others, to be wasteful, to desire a
  closet full of toys.
• To Himmelstein, the advertiser does not stand
  outside the culture when they manipulate the
  advertiser is immersed in commercial culture and
  its taken-for-granted rightness.
• They cannot see the harm of ads, any more than a
  cigarette firms wants to recognize the harm of
  its tobacco (and cigarette marketing).

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Modern ads are guided by 3 typical appeals

• 1. Fear. Fear of failure, of being ugly, of not
  being loved. This fosters insecurity and weakens
  personal integrity and rational thinking.
• 2. Greed. Ads constantly promote the idea that
  one cannot be satisfied with what they have.
• 3. The Miracle. Instant cures are promised by
  miracle products that require little real effort
  beyond consumption. This fosters non-rational,
  fuzzy mindedness.

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How should leisure time be used?

• Himmelstein concedes that advanced capitalism has
  produced increased leisure time, and the assembly
  line system does bring dividends.
• However, the promise of increased leisure time
  was the hope of increased enlightenment. It was
  hoped by some that more time off would mean
  greater inquiry into politics, social systems,
  etc.
• However, this idea scares industry because
  enlightened workers may challenge workplace
  policies, threatening the status quo.

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How should leisure time be used?

• Industry has endorsed escapism over
  enlightenment.
• Escapist leisure serves the interests of
  industry. But it doesnt necessarily serve the
  public interest, because it is unproductive. With
  such escapism
• The public remains poorly informed about social
  policies.
• Elites have relatively unchecked power.
• Ordinary people are less creative and innovative
  as they waste hours of the day on escapist
  activities.

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Recreation

• Industry usurps the traditional spiritual power
  of the Church by promoting recreation as a form
  of new spiritualism.
• Industrys products offer miracle cures that
  save us.
• The day off work becomes a play day rather than
  an introspection day.
• Weekends are linked to spectator sports, alcohol,
  and other escapist behaviors.
• What is to be worshiped in the consumer society
  are the commodities that make life so fun.

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The effects of ads

• In U.S. households, the TV enjoys a privileged
  location in the living room.
• The TV is left on an average of 7 hours per day,
  and is actually watched an average of 2.5 hours
  per day.
• Viewers do try to use a perceptual screen to
  filter out the pollution, but there are
  cumulative effects that are hard to avoid.
• We subconsciously learn about normalcy, beauty
  and other ideals from TV.
• We subconsciously compare ourselves to the role
  models on television.

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Do people really believe what ads say?

• Yes and no. People know that ads lie, but people
  emotionally yearn for the dream worlds that ads
  promote.
• Reality and fantasy are blurred.
• While adults can train themselves to resist to
  some extent, children are especially vulnerable.
• At age 5, children have difficulty distinguishing
  between reality and fantasy, and children trust
  adults not to lie in manipulative ways.
• The most vulnerable period is age 7 10 years
  old, because now the child has learned that ads
  lie. Thus the danger of cynicism toward adult
  authority emerges.

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Himmelstein conclusion

• Ads usurp individual spiritual needs by
  substituting material consumption for spiritual
  fulfillment.
• Fulfillment comes from many sources, most of
  which have little to do with consumerism,
  escapism, and materialism. In the sociology of
  happiness literature, fulfillment is linked to
• Sense of personal empowerment (personal autonomy)
• Loving family and friends
• Feeling healthy, productive and needed by others
• A sense of community where people look out for
  each other and know each other
• Access to leisure time that offers more than
  trivial pursuit-escapism

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Himmelstein conclusion

• The mass production system requires mass
  consumption, and mass consumption requires mass
  advertising.
• Ads are merely the means to this end.
• The larger issue is whether this entire system of
  modern consumer capitalism serves the public
  interest.

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