Consumerism in Relation to Popular Culture

Merriam-Webster defines consumerism as “a preoccupation with and an inclination toward the buying of consumer goods.” As Americans, consumerism has been preached to us for our entire lives. Some say that consumerism helps the United States economy and promotes capitalism. While this may be true to an extent, we have taken it too far and have reached a point where we are not satisfied having only what we need but feel the urge to buy what we want. It has evidently become engrained in our psyche and can be shown through the AT&T ad where a little girl chants “we want more!” without even knowing the benefits or really understanding why she wants more. Popular culture can be held responsible for our nation’s shift to a society of never ending consumption. While advertisements, such as one from K-Mart that I have linked below, support the idea of consumerism, we can also contribute it to the treadmill of consumption and our competition with our neighbors. This competition with those around us and our neighbors leads us to buy the newest, most in fashion, and potentially expensive items that we may not necessarily need in order to show that we are people who are with the trends, are wealthy, and are ultimately “better” than those around us and our neighbors. As we are succumbed to the influences that pop culture has over us, our ideals gravitate more toward fitting in and being seen as a person of status. Ultimately, the ideal of consumerism has become a disease that we have all been infected with whether we recognize it or not.  

AT&T Ad: https://youtu.be/XLHglL7FCNY?t=4s

K-Mart Consumerism Ad: https://youtu.be/yYTspIT8xjY