Final Post

At the beginning of this class I really didn't know what to expect. I knew what consumerism is and that I was an active consumer, but I really didn't think much about the advertisements that were swaying me into being such an active consumer. This class has really helped me to be aware of all the commercials and advertising images that are released, and more importantly how ridiculous most of them are. 

The essay I enjoyed writing the most was the very first one where I got to explain a bit of the history surrounding the iPhone and use the paper to reflect my thought process behind my decision to actually purchase an iPhone and follow into its popularity. Through writing this essay I realized that I am often aware of all the exaggerated selling features that appear in commercials and ads surrounding products, but I don't care how dramatically different the experience I get from buying the item is from what is being sold in its commercials. 

I believe that advertisements are so enticing on their own and so when they are fueled by popularity for the item being sold and when it's so easy to share the ad with friends, consumerism becomes almost inescapable. The truth is that I don't believe consumerism should be something we should try and combat. I like knowing about all the latest and greatest things available on the market and buying those items, even when I know I don't need them, makes me happy. Sure that happiness is generally ony brief, lasting about a day, but nevertheless it makes me happy to know that I am capable of buying things and that I'm following trends. 

This class has made me notice the different flaws in ads and how many commercials aren't actually advertising their product in them, but rather selling an image. This happiness I get from buying items is in large part because I generally get a confidence boost when I buy new clothes or that cool new phone because of the image they bring me. If there was one thing I'd change about consumerism and advertising it would be to have strict guidelines set up for advertising companies to follow so they aren't selling women's bodies, or subliminally including racism in their ads, etc. Even with guidelines set up, though, I know there would be ways around them.