Reality Advertising Effects

Advertisement’s Effects on Reality
In the modern day capitalist United States consumerism is what drives our economy, our material goals, and our measurement of success and wealth. One of the main proponents of consumerism is advertising, which is now more copious than ever. The digital era has given companies a new medium through which to advertise their products, granting them space in front of Youtube videos, popups on websites, and ads that look like posts on Facebook. M.T. Anderson took this advertising through digital media a step further in his book Feed. In Feed, M.T. Anderson illustrates the negative effects advertising will have on our society if we allow it to shape our thought process, causing us to develop a false sense of reality …show more content…
Throughout the book, he has trouble focusing solely on what is happening in front of him because his attention is split between reality and the products being advertised in his head. In this world, consumerism is king because products beckon to consumers chronically through advertisements in their minds. These advertisements cause people to develop a false sense of reality. Advertisements show a distorted version of reality with people singing and happy, surrounded by friends, all because they bought a certain brand of shoe or wore a certain style of shirt. After prolonged exposure to advertisements, people begin to associate the products being advertised with the feelings the people in the ad are experiencing, so they seek those products out. They want their reality and emotions to match those in the ideal reality that exists for the people in advertisements, so they consume the products purported to create that reality. This phenomenon can also be seen in Brave New World. In Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, it is the subliminal messaging of government propaganda that cause people to want to consume the products specified by the government. …show more content…
In Feed, the world is controlled by corporations and has only a puppet government. Corporations control the schools, the hospitals, and almost all the jobs. When Violet has problems with her feed, it is the corporation who made her feed that she petitions for financial and medical help, not the government or a hospital. Because helping her would not increase their profits, the company denies Violet the help she would need to survive. Based on this evidence, one could easily argue that Anderson incorporates advertising into Feed to highlight the power and corruption of corporations. This is not the case, however, because although the power and corruption of corporations can be seen in Feed, Anderson’s main focus is the effects of advertising on reality and on how we view ourselves and the world around us. He illustrates this in the text through his use of setting as well as through the plot. The biggest plot defining element in Feed is the feed itself. It is central to the plot and to the development of the characters. The feed is essentially a medium for advertisements that Titus describes throughout the book. Anderson’s main focus is on how the feed and the advertisements it presents to the characters affect their realities. When Violet was getting sick, Titus complained multiple