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Finding Contentment in a Consumer Culture
Advertisers exploit our deepest desire: Here’s 3 ways to overcome it
What is the number one thing humanity is looking for?
The answer might seem to dangle there like a ripe piece of fruit. It should be plain and simple. As I’ve posted the question over the last few years, four predominant responses emerged: Love, A Relationship with God, More Wealth, and Lots of Sex. Everyone has reasons for these, but it appears they are portions of a greater macro human desire.
Getting to the heart of what humans truly yearn for involves understanding what one thing resonates across the broadest swathe of society. One group understands this better than any other group –
The advertising industry.
Whether they’re peddling fizzy drinks, sleek sports cars, or ergonomic vacuum cleaners, advertisers must reach the broadest audience — the diverse television or streaming viewer. They can’t fully know the precise makeup and psyche of each consuming viewer, so advertising agencies had to determine that one thing we ALL want so that the consuming masses will purchase what they peddle.
What are they selling to humanity at large?
Contentment.
With every ad we watch, every time we hit that play button, they’re whispering the same seductive promise: “Buy our stuff, and your contentment meter will shoot off the charts!” The catch? We’re not content yet, but once we own their product, our lives will make sense, and we’ll finally achieve a Nirvana of contentment. Here’s the rub: we must buy every X (car, soda, detergent, mower) to finally nab that elusive Y (contentment). It’s a never-ending loop each time you flip on the TV or click on YouTube.
Because the advertising industry has uncovered a reality, most of us don’t want to admit.
Few of us are content.
They use our greatest need against us. As long as we’re oblivious that contentment is what we crave most, advertising agencies have us hooked. They’ll keep rolling out their parade of products and services, and we’ll keep biting. Not because we need what they are selling, but because we don’t have what we need the most.
