Blog #4 Ad week Chapter 7

Stuart Ewan presents a realistic idea with the commodity self. Everything we own is advertised and has an effect on who we are and how other people perceive us. From going to class to going to work, there is always someone looking at what brand of clothes you are wearing or what accessories you have or how presentable you look; it is in fact the American culture. There is always that desire for someone else to envy or crave what you have and this is how many of the advertisements we see rope us in and get us to buy their product. The products that the companies are selling allow us to express ourselves how we want others to see us. For example, my mom owns a Jeep but is borrowing my Aunt’s red convertible Saab for the week. A Saab is not your average car; obviously, not everyone is able to afford one, and especially the fact that it’s a convertible it stands out in a middle class town like mine, where everyone drives Fords, Hondas, Chevys, and Dodges. I was privileged enough to get the chance to drive it around town a little bit and you just get a totally different feeling when you’re in that car because you know people are looking at you in awe over the car. In general, those types of cars tell other people that you have money because not only are they expensive to buy but the maintenance on them is also expensive. The fact that it’s a convertible shows people that you have money too but also that you like to have some fun because having the top down is associated with summer, the beach, and having the wind in your hair. But just driving the car you’re in that zone where you are that fun rich person, even if that isn’t true it’s like you take on that role. I remember saying to my friend who was in the passenger seat when I was driving, that I hoped someone from high school would see me driving it. I think I wanted them to just for the gratification that I was most likely driving something better then what they were driving, whether it was mine or not. But that is what our culture is… “keeping up with the Jones’” and always trying to outdo someone else materialistically.
I think I could probably honestly say that I am in a way a product of products because as much as people would like to say “it`s the little things in life that mean the most not where you live what you drive or the price tag on your clothes…” it really is those things that people look at whether they want to admit it or not. Every day when we open up our closets we make a choice on how we want people to view us based on what outfit we pick out.