Evaluation Taylor Barbers, Analysis Of Samsung’s Ostrich Commercial (Essay Sample)

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Evaluation of Taylor Barber’s thesis through analysis of Samsung’s Ostrich commercial
Introduction
It is the general human nature to want to feel diverse or multifunctional. Individuals take pride in many aspects of their lives that tap into their emotional needs of self importance. For instance, people identify with the concurrent success of their careers, relationships, businesses, parental responsibilities among others. They are proud to be linked to certain tribal cocoons or social enclaves that are deemed superior. Does consumerism elicit the same feelings of pride and self importance? Despite the pivotal role played by consumerism in capitalist societies, majority of people do not proudly identify themselves as consumers, unless the consumption is associated with classy goods and services in the economy. The global economy is fuelled by production of goods and services, which must be consumed to complete the chain of production and foster economic growth. This means that consumers are very important in any economy. In his article, “Overselling Capitalism with consumerism,” Benjamin Barber seems to challenge the role of consumers in a capitalist society. He posits that in a capitalist society, capitalist producers manipulate less resourced consumers into feeling the need to consume certain products which they often do not need. They are however compelled to consume such products at the expense of satisfying more pressing needs. Wealthy consumers are less disadvantaged because they have the capacity to consume such products without affecting their abilities to satisfy their basic wants. In such cases, producers reap more profits from both wealthy and needy consumers, leaving the needy ones completely disadvantaged (Barber).
Samsung’s Ostrich commercial
Samsung’s Ostrich commercial is consistent with Barber’s assertion of how producers in capitalist economies use infantile ethos to persuade consumers into acquiring certain products. According to Barber, advertising as a tool is often misused and abused in the capitalist economies. Other than use the tool to simply create awareness about products, producers use the tool to get into the heads of consumers and give their lives a sense of incompleteness without certain products. In this case, consumers are portrayed as lazy and vulnerable to producers’ control. Samsung’s choice of an ostrich in promotion of their products explains the role and place of consumer’s in society from the producers’ point of view. The proverbial ostrich that buried its head in the sand to avoid its problems is just about how consumers are portrayed in the society. The ad, depicts them as lazy and unable to confront the challenges in markets. Consumers are depicted as unable to pay attention to details and would rather take short cuts to survive. Although the use of the ostrich was a creative move to catch the attention of consumers, the ad is a mockery to consumerism, where characteristics of consumers are likened to those of the ostrich. This supports Barber’s position that producers use such techniques to create new tastes among consumers. Those who watch the ad are likely to be moved by the creative animal clip and also take interest in the company’s products. For instance, the curiosity of ostriches who experience the Gear Virtual Reality is enhanced. The ostriches become more determined and more adventurous compared to those that did not enjoy the Gear VR flight experience. The fact is that the ostriches did not actually need to experience that Gear VR flight experience. That need was created by producers.
Barber opines that consumerism supports infantile ethos because it is inclined towards leisure and relaxation as opposed to self discipline and denial. Consumerism promotes over indulgence and spontaneity at the expense of planning. It favors childish impetuousness over adult hood and in...