Advertising and Consumer Culture

1 Course Unit

Advertising, it has been observed, is capitalism’s way of saying “I love you” to itself. In this discussion-based course, you will explore what that might mean, for you and for society—to live in a culture that puts buying and selling at its center. Together we will trace how, over a hundred years ago, advertisers began to pair a vision of the good life with a promise to grow the economy. In the century since the advertising industry has co- evolved with, and underwritten, the media we consume—from radio to the internet—helping to drive, even shape, the technologies and businesses that entertain and inform us. In the course, you and your classmates will study advertisers—who they are, what they make, and how their business has changed—alongside the rest of us, in our roles as consumers and (more recently) proprietors of our own self-brands. Along the way we will consider how advertising and consumer culture has spilled over into politics, activism, and the environment. Is there a logic of promotion that connects how we think of ourselves with the lifestyle dreamscapes packaged by the industry? What, if anything, do colorful 1920s magazine ads have to do with the link-in-bio self-selling of our contemporary social media culture? We will consider such questions against the backdrop of recent developments, including data-driven target marketing and the rise of programmatic ads. 1 Course Unit