Karl Marx: Communist Manifesto 1818-1883
-Communist Manifesto
-Das Kapital
Commodity culture perpetuates false needs through the use of aesthetic innovation, planned obsolescence and novelty. ‘Aesthetic innovation’ is a change in the way a commodity looks. An example of this would be a stainless steel toaster, which is modern and more attractive than a plastic toaster. ‘Novelty’ is when a product is developed and improved, making the consumer want the next best thing. An example of this could be a computer, which is developed, improved or upgraded every few months. ‘Planned Obsolescence’ is when commodities have a planned life expectancy: meaning after a certain amount of time the consumer will have to replace the product.
Commodity Fetishism was introduced in the opening chapter of Karl Marx's main work of political economy, Capital, of 1867. It is the idea that we are who we are not because of what we do but because of the commodities we have.
‘Ways of Seeing’ written by John Berger (1972) gives a good indication of how advertising can sell things and looks at how “Publicity persuades us by showing people whose lives have been transformed” but he goes on to state that: “Art showed what the owner of objects already had, whereas advertising shows what we ought to have.”
Reification is when people are given an association with a product through which they perceive themselves to be glamorous, cool, sophisticated. Many people have come to believe that concept helps them to define who they are.
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