John Berger

In John Berger's article, he explored the nature of publicity. Many people would find that quite odd because quite honestly, publicity is everywhere but what people don't know is what really drives publicity. First off, publicity is everywhere. In the subway, on the road, on tv, I mean you can't escape publicity. What many might not realize is that publicity deals with the past and focuses on the future, meaning that the present isn't dealt with. It want consumers to see themselves in the future with whatever product is being promoted but it uses the past to hook people into the advertisement. Publicity persuades the consumer to want the product. It also manufactures glamour. Through publicity, glamour plays a key role in selling a product. Glamour exists through personal social envy that is produced by publicity. If this didn't exists, consumers wouldn't be envious of the product on TV and want to go out and purchase it. Publicity also plays on the fact that in today's society, people are measured by "you are what you have." By using inciting images and making the consumer envious of those with the desired product, the consumer will run out and buy whatever is being sold just to be considered "in". This basically is an anxiety that makes the consumer purchase the product.

Just from the tone of the article, one would think that publicity is bad. In some aspects it seems that way, but capitalism thrives on it. Because publicity is all around us, people are basically brain washed to think that if they don't have this product they will be considered insignificant. These companies making these ads aren't helping us by providing us the product, they are making us feel bad about ourselves in order to buy their product. Unfortunately profit is the only drive that keeps this cycle going. Whether this is bad or not, it is continuously used all around us, so I guess it is up to the consumer whether publicity is good or bad for society.