Soft Persuasion Of New Insecurities
Hazal Aysel
The early 20th century marked a great shift in the social and cultural ethos of American culture, slowly giving way to a new set of values and building the powerful roots of consumerist culture. Following a long history of change and reinvention, advertising in the United States remains as the most influential tool in commodifying insecurities as a promising route to self realization.
While the direction toward which the mirror faces between society and advertisement is often broadly questioned, their relation is in reality dichotomous. Popular culture is ever-changing and advertising has continuously adapted itself to shifting paradigms. It is crucial to acknowledge that advertising cannot be considered and evaluated in isolation. There is semiotic and social meaning behind all choices made in advertising and everyday consumption.
Soft Persuasion of New Insecurities approaches American advertising and popular culture through a critical lens, exploring the ever changing insecurities baited by the consumerist happiness machine while questioning its future within a neoliberal context. Each chapter, with its own designated color, chronologically addresses an era defined by its new insecurities. Historical nostalgia and a speculative future unite in a strive to unveil persuasive methods. Through the study of theories such as the Therapeutic Ethos and Conspicuous Consumption this book explores the history and future of insecurities that are the instruments and byproducts of American Consumerist Culture.