https://vimeo.com/65461501
This
project began as a research paper intended to show a person who has a shopping
problem that she is doing exactly what advertisers want her to do and has
become trapped in a system of consumerism that is constantly leaving her in
debt. The paper is based off of the ideas and findings put forth in Naomi Klein’s
amazing book No Logo, in which she
does an extensive investigative study of the big brands that make the clothes
and products that are marketed toward the general public. However, halfway
through the writing of the paper I realized that I, the writer, was becoming slightly
bored by the writing; why then would she want to read it? And even if she did,
would she retain the message I was trying to send? I did not think so.
Therefore, I went back to the drawing board and thought of the things she likes
and responds most to. After seeing her watch television one day, I realized she
likes to watch music videos, movies that feature a strong female character, and
shows centered on the rich and famous. She would also respond subtly to
advertisements that depict people having a great time showing off merchandise.
I had found my medium; I would create an advertisement that shows the way
advertisers use their campaigns to manipulate people to purchase their
products. In a sense, using Naomi Klein’s ideas, I created an “anti-advertisement”
using advertisements entitled “Eyeing the Strings of the Puppet Master”.
The
video begins with two quotes taken from No
Logo that would set up and frame what the viewer is about to watch. It then
cuts to a clip from a music video by a Hip-Hop artist, Macklemore performing
his song “Wings”. This song is about consumerism and the ways in which
advertisers manipulate you to feel as though you need their product rather than simply want it- in his case, Jordan
branded sneakers. I inserted this in the video because it is not only relevant,
but it is also something that I struggled with as an urban youth. I always felt
as though I needed expensive sneakers to fit in, and the person whom this work
is directed to knows that as well. It was a way of saying that everyone falls
victim to the marketing campaigns, even Macklemore and myself. The video then
cuts by emphasizing a quote from the song: “I’m an individual, yeah, but I’m
part of a movement. My movement told me be a consumer and I consumed it.” There
is a brief pause as the song “Sweet Disposition” by the Temper Trap fades in. I
chose this song because I felt as though it is fitting; we all have a “sweet disposition”
to purchase the things we like.
The
video then cuts to a woman looking in through a window on a door. The viewer
sees her eye through the glass as she looks into a room where mechanical eyes
are spinning all around the room as drones are seemingly pumped out of a
factory line. This clip is to emphasize the fact that everything is marketed.
If a person were to take a look at every single type of fashion sect, they
would see that, to some extent, their entire fashion make-up was designed by an
ad-campaign, movement, or marketing stunt. In a sense we are all pre-conceived “drones”
as consumers; when we shop, no matter what our purchase is; once it is worn we
become a product of a factory line.
The
next clip is of a couple dancing in an advertisement cut together with a
shopping scene from “Pretty Woman” in which she is dancing around in front of
the mirror in a similar way to the couple. These scenes are juxtaposed with a
person pulling strings behind a door as people are held up by strings like
puppets. This is to emphasize that as consumers, we are being manipulated by
advertisers and marketing campaigns.
The
theme of manipulation by a person behind the scenes is consistent throughout
the video. The next cut shows a person manipulating shadows behind a light
bulb. As she turns her hands, the dancing couple moves in the same direction her
hand is moving. The next clip shows a well dressed woman running up a flight of
stairs who is then pulled by a shadow that originates from the person behind
the light bulb. She is then made into an electric current and sent to a room
where she is forced to walk on a hamster wheel. The next clip shows the couple
moving in a circular motion. This emphasizes the idea of control by the person
behind the scenes. It also emphasizes the fact that she is slave to the system.
The next cut shows that the dancing couple is a commercial for GAP. The fact
that the woman on the hamster wheel was powering their dancing toward the end
was intentional; it demonstrates that the corporation is run by the consumer.
At the end of the day, they must cater to the consumer and the money the
consumer spends drives the corporation.
The
next couple of scenes deal with “looking” and control. There is a scene where a
couple is playing around and filming themselves. This is juxtaposed with the
person behind the scenes looking through a microscope before cutting to a clip
with the same woman who was filming her boyfriend extending her hands up in a
defensive motion. This is to emphasize that advertisers study people-
especially “cool” people; people who can drive their sales. Everyone likes to
look cool, which is why the couple was filming each other. But once the
advertisers begin to look at you to analyze your “coolness,” you become like a
lab rat; defenseless and under microscopic investigation.
The
next cut is to a scene in Pretty Woman
where she sort of stops and stares out at the viewer before the clip is cut to
another one of drones being made right before a woman is seen walking and
depicting fashion throughout the years. This was done to make the viewer stop
and see how arbitrary fashion is; how individual can you be by consumption if fashion
can be tracked through the years? You cannot. We are always mass produced
products of an advertising campaign.
The
next couple of scenes emphasize control. There are a set of scenes that depict
people being controlled by the person behind the scenes. There are people being
made to run on hamster wheels, there are people walking in a cage like lions in
a circus, people running through mazes like lab rats, and there is one person
sitting behind a set of monitors looking upon all of it. She is the person
behind the scenes making sure all is going to plan. Then it is made clear that
all of the clips emphasizing the notion of control was taken from an
advertisement itself. This was done to emphasize that advertiser are thinking about control when they
create ads.
The
video ends with another quote from Klein’s work, as well as one of the most
powerful notions taken from her work; the fact that we are nothing but
advertising space for big brands. When people see a cool looking person wearing
something, they are more likely to spend money to buy into being “cool” as
well. The idea is to not give them too much money to sell their products for
them.
