Jesus is a brand of jeans

Recently I read an article written by Jean Kilbourne entitled “Jesus is a brand of jeans”.
In the article Kilbourne is stressing the Idea that advertising is stripping us of our spirituality, culture is becoming commercialism. Kilbourne believes that because of the way advertisements are deployed they’re changing our values in what I (and I’m pretty sure she) would consider an extremely negative way. Kilbourne talks of their efforts to addict us to consumerism as children and leave us emotionally starved, expecting products to fill the void that they create in us. The culture that comes with these advertisements is turning us into self-indulgent, close minded people Kilbourne sums this idea up quite well bemoaning that “This apparently bottomless consumerism not only depletes the world’s resources, it also depletes our inner resources. It leads inevitably to narcissism and solipsism”. Kilborune also makes a point about how quickly advertisements can really affect a culture that is not consumerist in nature. Kilbourne notes the Gwish’in tribe, a tribe in Alaska, who were first exposed to television in 1980. Within ten years consumerism had taken over the original culture of the tribe, “Beaded moccasins gave way to Nike sneakers, and ‘tundra tea’ to Folger’s instant coffee”.

I find the Ideas Kilbourne present to be quite disturbing. I can’t even begin to think if a way to stop the advertising giants, but it’s frightening to think, with consumerism spreading like wildfire (maybe a little bit slower) what is going to come of both our cultural values and our natural resources. It’s only a matter of time before outside sources introduce these ideals to more currently independent and actually cultured groups, I’m sure it’s going on as I write this. The one thing I can think of that might slow down the cycle would be education. I for one had the wool over my eyes a bit before reading this article, sure I knew that advertisements were designed to get into my pocket and make me want what they’re trying to sell, but I didn’t give much thought to the consequences of my lifestyle. If people were a little more educated on what these ads were doing to them subconsciously perhaps they’d be better equipped to make a conscious decision against them. I can’t help but think, however, this is a pipe dream. The people who want us to consume have an extraordinary amount of resources to keep us in line. If we really wanted to turn things around we’d have to dispose of the radio, television, the internet… It’s a bit unrealistic to expect that. What you can do however is be aware of what the advertisers are trying to do to you, try to live for yourself and not your possessions, raise your children to be cultured not consumers. Teach them about their family, their history. Enlighten those around you, be your own person. If we live by these principles we might just retake culture, and I mean culture in the real sense, not what it is now.