In my Critical Theory class we were talking about sin and salvation concepts in advertising. It's from the book How to Watch TV News by Neil Postman (Amusing Ourselves to Death) and Steve Powers.
"The Seven Deadly Sins, in other words, are problems to be solved through chemistry and technology. On commercials, there are no intimations of the conventional roads to spiritual redemption. But there is Original Sin, and it consists of our having been ignorant of a product that offers happiness. We may achieve a state of grace by attending to the good news about it, which will appear every six or seven minutes. It follows from this that he or she is most devout who knows of the largest array of products; they are heretics who willfully ignore what is there to be used." (125)
Shoot! For some of my classes, I've had to write papers on postmodern consumerism and I've talked about how the old metanarratives of society (nationalism, religion, etc.) which is what people used to find meaning for their lives and events within, have gone away. To replace them, capitalism has come in and created a type of religion for consumers.
For instance, there are little cults around different stores. In high school, it meant something very definite if you shopped at Abercrombie & Fitch vs. Aeropostale. Why? Because there was this whole narrative and meaning surrounding the brands that people wanted to be a part of, to identify with.
The same thing with Starbucks. People are die-hard fans. They love sitting there, the community found there, the music, the caffeine, everything. But it is also an image that has been carefully constructed by Starbucks. They give us something that we want, and it's almost a spiritual experience (ritual) going there and taking part in it. But, at the end of the day, it's just COFFEE. or is it?
