Balducci_M2

//How We Became the Consumers We Are Today//

 Americans are known as consumers. The amount of energy U.S. citizens consume is apparent in the staggering level of the country’s carbon emissions; and the amount of stuff used is shown in the numerous landfills and dumps throughout the world American consumers have created. In the 1990’s, the average person was over four times wealthier than his great grandparents and yet, people continue to buy, buy, and buy. (Durning 20)  Lewis Lapham, who inherited his fortune from family, began asking people how much money they needed to be happy and reported, “No matter what their income a depressing number of Americans believe that if only they had twice as much, they would inherit the estate of happiness…The man who receives $15,000 a year is sure that he could relieve his sorrow if he had only $30,000 a year; The man with $1 million a year knows that all would be well if he had $2 million a year…Nobody ever has enough.”(Durning 21) The question is, how did the United States become a population where everyone consumes more than necessary and continues to remain unsatisfied?
 * Problem **

 The consumer capitalist society began around the end of World War II. With the amount of changes and consolidation retailers had to make during the war, postwar economy changes stirred up fears in many businesses. Businesses had hoped they would survive the war unscathed with the ability to continue growing but many were bought out by larger firms. In the postwar period, persevering retail businesses’ goals were to obtain a state of maximized production and profit to meet the demands of postwar citizens who suddenly had more free time and financial freedom. Without an increase in production, retail analyst Victor Lebow predicted, “…we shall face crises darker than even 1930-1933.” (Lebow12)  With the increased competition, smaller businesses knew that in order to remain in the market, employees and efficiency had to be maximized. (Lebow 11) The addition of new materials and more efficient machines to their arsenal of resources gave retailers the power to produce and distribute more products in less time (Lebow 12). The stakeholders of this situation are the American people and remaining companies.
 * The Market **

 To get the people to buy more companies used marketing as a tool to shape people into their ideal consumers. This strategy brought advertising agencies into the mix. Advertising strategies were implemented based on American dreams. People wanted happiness and distraction after the war and were finally able to focus on producing the perfect life. They used this concept and produced ads that made the viewer upset and unsatisfied with his current looks and commodities. One advertising strategy told the person there is a problem in his life and their product can solve it and create happiness and satisfaction. Another strategy was creating the desire for something different and better. B. Earl Puckett, a head of a retail corporation said, “It is our job to make women unhappy with what they have.” (Durning 22)  They would accomplish this by having ads that say something like curly hair isn’t in style, beautiful women have straight hair. And then proceeding to show how their product can give the viewer beautiful, straight hair. (Durning 22) Advertisers also used the “cool factor” to send the message that their product is no longer in style, but now there is a newer version that is cool.
 * Advertisement **

 The ploy to create consumers didn’t stop there. Around the same time engineers entered the consumer matrix by coming up with their own ways of increasing sales. An engineer from General Electric designed a flashlight that had a shorter life span, by making it last as long as one battery and not the previous three rounds of batteries. This quickly caught on and engineering societies began getting together to plan ways to make other products' life spans shorter such as automotives. Engineers admitted that better quality products could have been made with a small additional expense, but the fear of market saturation kept them from doing so. (Beder 52) Obsolescence methods didn’t stop there, engineers actually began to think of more ways to get customers to need a new product. Companies began discontinuing parts and accessories for electronics so that instead of repairing it, the consumer had to go out and buy a new one. They began designing “death—dates” into products where they tell the person when it’s beginning to get old and not work anymore. (Beder 53) An example is Brita filters going from displaying a green dot to a red dot when the filter is “too old” to be used anymore.
 * Engineer Design **

 The concept of consuming has become a problem. The amount of resources available to create products is dwindling and the amount of waste from these products is turning out to be more than the earth and people can handle. Some people are saying the solution lies in the advertising industry. Organizations are putting the blame on advertising agencies and telling them that they are the ones that got the world into this mess and therefore it is their job to get the world out of it. (Bashford 9) The problem agencies are facing is that simply educating people doesn’t work. To be successful, there needs to be a change in behavior from a desire to buy to a desire to be environmentally friendly. Agencies are suggesting the solution begins within the companies and the need to become sustainable within its own walls. (Bashford 9) Another solution would be beginning with the consumer. Durning writes that, “…we should start by asking ourselves what we really want.” (Durning 23)  If people want a future for generations to come, then living sustainably is the answer. The problem is that a sustainable lifestyle isn’t possible for most of the consumer population. “The future of life on earth depends on whether the richest fifth of the world’s people, having met their material needs, can turn to non-material sources of fulfillment.” (Durning 24)
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Solutions **

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Who is Victor Lebow? <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">[] <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Original article Victor Lebow consumer quote came from <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">[] <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Happiness and Sustainability <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">[] <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">15 most creative green ads <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">[]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Links **

**<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Works Cited ** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Bashford, Suzy. "Are Agencies Ready to Turn Back Tide of Consumerism?" Teddington 12 Oct. 2007. Proquest. Web. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Beder, Sharon. "Is Planned Obsolescence Socially Responsible?" Engineers Australia Nov. 1998: 52. Web. 30 Oct. 2010. <http://www.uow.edu.au/~sharonb/columns/engcol8.html>. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Durning, Alan T. "Are We Happy Yet? How the Pursuit of Happiness Is Failing." The Futurist 27.1 (1993): 20-24. Proquest. Web. 30 Oct. 2010. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Lebow, Victor. "The Nature of Postwar Retail Competition." The Journal of Marketing 9.1 (1944): 11-18. EBSCOhost. Web. 30 Oct. 2010.