Producing Consumers

PRODUCING CONSUMERS ESSAY

The video The Ad and the Ego uses advertising to ask important questions about our society.

Write an essay on an aspect covered in the video. Some questions you might address, but are not limited to:

• What kind of people do ads try to "produce"?
  How do advertisers try to produce men and women differently?
  
  
• What is the relationship between consumption and some of the problems we've looked at in the rest of the world? Sweatshop workers, the Huaorani, the Ladakhis, the Inuit, etc.?
  
  
• How are you personally affected by ads?
  
  
• What do ads teach us about the meaning of life? What is the story of happiness and fulfillment that ads tell?
  
  
• What can be done to "make a difference" in transforming consumer culture?
  
  
• Is the culture of consumption environmentally sustainable? Can we continue endlessly "producing" consumers here and in other countries? And, if not, what social changes need to occur?

BASIC ESSAY CHECKLIST

(attach this sheet to your essay when you turn it in)

_____	Clever, inviting title
_____	Engaging, imaginative introduction
_____	Important, clear thesis. Write thesis statement here:
_____	Different kinds of evidence (e.g., quotes from the films, quotes from articles, examples from your own life, examples from history, examples from contemporary society, etc.)
_____	At least two quotes used as evidence
_____	Thesis is convincingly "proved"/demonstrated
_____	Strong conclusion [summarizes, ties back to your introduction, raises further questions, etc.]
_____	Typed or in ink, legibly written or printed
_____	No major errors of punctuation, grammar, spelling, paragraphing

Last Updated Spring 2001