On our discussion topic of advertising, I feel that McLuhan has a very dated view. Had he seen the current state of advertising he would have changed his tune as to insinuating that advertising is a blessing rather than a plague. It has reached a state of saturation that was touched on in the class as making people “numb” but I believe it has a much greater effect than what most people consciously realize. In McLuhan’s time advertising changed gears in some ways, whether he was aware of it or not. The concept of “creating a need” through an advert campaign, is an integral foundation to what it has become today. Selling a lifestyle of what you need to be, shaping body image, and praying on the insecurities of an over stimulated populous. I found it humorous how it was mentioned, in connection to McLuhan’s correlation of adverts with art, that an artist lubricates the public to change. This was specifically referring to the adoption of capitalism in formerly soviet states. Well it’s certainly lubricating the public for something.

Consumerism is idea engrained into our psyches from the deluge of advertisements. The fact that the GDP is an acceptable way to gauge how the country is doing, rather than public school quality, or advances in medical science, among other things. Which, in my opinion, is disgusting.

Also, on a related note:

Buy nothing Day is coming up, click the picture for more info.