‘In the middle of a desert of boredom, an oasis of horror.’ — Baudelaire
Let’s say you took a baby and insulated the kid from all knowledge of advertised products for the first twenty years of life. Somehow the person still walks through daily life on an otherwise normal basis, it is just that the kid cannot see, hear, or feel the ads. The kid also can’t ask his friends what the ads have to say, or which products they promote. So the kid will notice that Coca-Cola is in every convenience store, but he has to figure out for himself that the product is famous.
Now our insulated 20-year-old is about to enter the so-called real world. How much worse off is he? (…) What benefits is the kid missing? (…) I think the individual benefits from watching ads are pretty small.
photo { Susanne Walstrom }
November 28th, 2008 at 7:37 am
We did this with our daughter. She wasn’t allowed to watch any TV until she was almost out of high school. She is not a consumer, she only buys what she needs and researches products on her own instead of relying on ads to tell her what to buy.
That said, she has over $100K in the bank and won’t spend it on tooth paste if it is over what she thinks she should pay. She has all the requisite teen things like an iPod (paid less than retail), TV/DVD (paid less than retail), and clothe (bought at thrift shops). She’s now in college and because of her thrift she doesn’t need school loans and will be debt free when she graduates.
While she might be some what “culturally” retarded (and who can call TV culture) at least she is well read, can draw like a pro, and has the ability to use her brain instead of sit like a vegetable in front of a tube.
November 28th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
I told my little brother when he was very little “everything you see on TV ads is a lie. Absolutely everything.” I repeated it when he was 10 and then when he was 13. I hope this makes him grow up in a different way than mine.
November 29th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Is a product famous because it is advertised or is it advertised because it is famous?…
December 1st, 2008 at 4:20 am
Love the photo.
The beauty and joy of youth, (Sigh).
December 2nd, 2008 at 9:54 pm
hello? is anybody there? i need a fix.