ETHICS OF SEEING: CONSUMING ENVIRONMENTS

摘要

At least since the 1920s, when Ford-style assembly line manufacturing made it possible to mass produce consumer goods, armies of advertisers have been producing something almost more important than commodities, consumers. Consumers aren't born; they are made. And American culture is the Mercedes Benz of consumer-makers. As Ralph Nader has said, we are a people for whom "shop 'til you drop' is the eleventh commandment." Those in industrialized societies are exposed to over 3,000 commercial messages per day through our televisions, radios, computers, freeways, and sidewalks. Arguably, the language and imagery of advertising is as much a part of our environment as air and water.