We love our products--more than we love other humans

So piggybacking on the speech by author Jean Kilbourne I linked at the end of my last post, I'd like to talk about the interesting and frightening concept Kilbourne presents us with.  This idea is the prepping of our society to be lifelong consumers through forming strong relationships with their products...stronger than their relationships with other human beings.

We see this in advertising a lot--the humanizing of inanimate products.  Frequently it is sexual.  Other times, though, our product is presented to us as a lifelong companion; something that is simple, and can be trusted...unlike humans.

For the men, we see this a lot in car or beer ads.  Example:

"Warning:  This vehicle may give you personal freedom"

"The ultimate attraction."

These are both car ads, obviously geared toward men.  The first is for Ford, selling us "personal freedom"--freedom from romantic obligations, most likely freedom from our significant other.  Ford is saying to us, "Hey men, buy this car as a way to escape your partner you loathe spending time with!"  After all, the car is faithful.

The second ad is for BMW, sexualizing the car more.  In my opinion, this is just creepy.  I mean really, they're selling you on having sex with your car...isn't that a little weird?  Anyway, the message behind this advertisement is pretty obvious-- "Your lover might let you have sex with her, but we know you really love your BMW so much more than this sex!"  Shudder.

So what about women?  Well, they're prepped in the same way, pretty much.  Chocolate ads/dessert ads are a pretty good example:

"Six Pack that melts a girl's heart.  Dove chocolate"

"Now it can last longer than you can resist.  Unwrap.  Indulge.  Repeat.  One pure silk bar now comes in three individually wrapped portions.  My moment.  My Dove!"

"You've never been caressed like this before."

The first two ads are for Dove chocolate.  

The first is selling us on the chocolate being comparable to a perfectly sculpted set of male abdominals.  Because of course, if you can't find a man who looks like a model or a body builder, you can just eat chocolate instead!  It'll make you feel better.

The second Dove chocolate ad is, just like the car ad we looked at, sexualizing the chocolate.  When you think about it that way, it seems so strange, doesn't it?  This Dove chocolate ad is saying to us that the chocolate will tease us until we can't handle it anymore, and then some.  This chocolate will never disappoint you with a performance problem!  This chocolate lasts for a long time...

The third ad is for Caress brand products.  Here, Caress is promising to touch us in a way incomparable to that of a human.  These products are better than human.  

More:

Excerpt from Social Communication in Advertising: Persons, Products, and Images of Well-Being