How the ad industry has destroyed consumer identity
Influencers aren’t helping
We’ve all ended up purchasing something we didn’t really like. Something we saw with tons of people or on billboards. The funny thing is we might not even have a true reason to have bought it, so we just end up subconsciously cramming the pitch we got and telling that to others when they ask for the advantage of that item over a less popular one. I believe that this is due to the genius of the advertising industry.
Taking a look at the past
This industry hasn’t changed much since the 60s and 50s, where advertisements portrayed a particular brand as luxury over its competition which served a very similar, if not the same, purpose. The 50s in the United States were known as the golden age of advertising. This was because World War Two had just ended, the economy began to boom and people were looking for a way to spend their money. In addition to this, there was a surge in the amount of televisions bought by families for their homes, allowing companies to utilize them for audio-visual marketing.
This resulted in a lot of sales by big corporations. In fact, I think that decade made or broke certain corporations. Companies like Budweiser, Marlboro, Coca-Cola and Ford made their big bucks in that time because the prevalence of the television made the American dream that much more within reach.
The present
This decade is somewhat similar as the prevalence of social media has made us realize that there are people in our demographic living a particular lifestyle which we honestly wouldn’t mind living. In an attempt to get a taste of that lifestyle, we resort to mirroring those people and trying to live like them, helping them earn the name ‘influencer’. We buy their products which we don’t need and subscribe so we can follow them on their journeys through life trying to emulate them as best we can.
Now these people know this so now they are left with an enormous consumer base that will provide sufficient demand to whatever their product is and they can now sell their followers anything. It’s the same case with celebrities as they can sell us anything that fits with their brand and we could buy blindly because if they’re selling it then it has to be the best, right?
This ultimately leads to consumers losing uniqueness when relating to preferences as we are no longer guided by our own choices and convictions but by the words of strangers who we have chosen to emulate as we subconsciously try to make their lives our own.
