Money Talks
I like the idea of those in charge giving the people the thought that they’re in control when in actuality, that is truly never the case. People have radios- they pay for special cars with fully upgraded packages to have the nicest speakers that play their favorite music, all of which defines part of who they are. They think- I have the choice to listen to this music and it is important to me and who I am- and they wouldn’t be wrong! But the problem is, it goes much deeper than that. They put a price tag on these cars to earn a larger profit from and for other companies that are involved- to make others more money- be it for example Bose- a speaker company that is often times in collaboration with car dealerships. It’s a cycle- it’s a win win for both parties for the reach of companies extends further than the choices we, as consumers, make- and most people are entirely unaware of it. If you like the speakers in your car, you are probably at that point more likely to support Bose further down the line and buy their home speaker, or their ear buds, or anything you want/ need pertaining to them (as long as they proved to be reliable)- but that’s just what you’ve been told and what you’ve associated with “the best” because of your experience or- better yet- experiences others have shared and you’ve somehow got in touch with through either word of mouth, reviews online, the guy at the dealership that sold you the car, etc. I got a little off topic there, but connecting back to the main point- thinking back to the idea that Disney World allows you to go left or right on the map and makes people feel special, unique, smart, or one with the crowd based on that decision- that very ideology that individualizes you, is a trap- their end all be all goal is to make money- going left or right doesn’t change that outcome for you or them, it just makes you feel you have more power in where your money goes which is the ultimate trick up capitalism’s [modern] sleeve. In the car instance, in regards to the radio- referring back to my critique on AUX cords in class- the more options they give you, the more choices you feel you have (the more complex something is, the ‘better’ the product - not always the case but parallels with the idea of modernity- “progress is always better”). Having the ability to tune in or out of the radio supplies people the notion of “they’re in control”. They choose the songs. But they choose the songs off the platform they support. They choose the very platform based on what songs it has quite possibly or, again, based on a larger ideology that this one is better than the other (Apple v Spotify v Pandora v etc). With the AUX, people spread a different type of ideology, one that continues to support the industry and make the artists and people involved more money. They subconsciously feel as though they are in the driver’s seat when in reality, they just are in the passenger seat of a different car. It’s all about establishing an illusion; giving people the idea that they are in control through manipulating the greater picture as best they can- blurring the line between spectatorship and participatory reaction.
So in the end,
Who are we in the grand scheme of things? Consumers. We are all different in the ways we consume, but the notion of sameness, the ideology that we all are a part of this capital, consumer based system, defines our habits and simultaneously shapes the market we support and cycle through.
As time moves forward and things progress, these concepts, the marketing strategies of the companies, change with what we do and do not support. Right now, we favor choice- we enjoy being in the driver’s seat of the products we utilize but no matter what the case, the track is set and the destination- determined. It’s all in place for a reason and labeled accordingly. $$$.
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