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Parting The Advertising Sea
It's as insidious as pollution, and, judging from the three seconds you
can't go without seeing one, more tangibly present. It's advertising,
and whether you're a boy in a suburban American classroom or an old lady
watching television in the Philippines, it's creeping up on you like
tomorrow. On April 13, MediaChannel set up camp at New York University.
There, a few hundred educators, consumer advocates and others who don't
believe humanity's destined to be silos for corporate agendas, gathered
for the Schmios — the awards show that dishonors the year's most
exploitive ad campaigns. To find truer takes on commercialism, you might
have to crash an ad agency boardroom. [For more information about the Schmio Awards, write to John Lang or visit this Web site.]
Page One: Fighting Ad Overload
Page Two: The Advertisers' Mind
Page Three: Pointed Parody
Interview Transcripts
- Donnell Alexander,
editor.
 To play the video below, download RealPlayer 7 Basic (free).
MediaChannel: What's the best approach for thinking individuals to counter the advertising industry?
Ralph Nader, consumer advocate and presidential candidate:
As a consumer, reject it in every way. For example, if you see excessive advertising everywhere — on the floors, on the walls, in the store — just go to the manager [and] say you don't want to shop in a situation like that.
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Arianna Huffington, syndicated columnist and an author:
Get a life for a start. It's like, life is not about shopping, and it is not about choosing among different things to shop. And also be very discerning.
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Mark Crispin Miller, critic; professor of media ecology, NYU:
People have to try to become critical viewers, and that is something that you can learn to do from reading certain books, taking certain kinds of courses. But [what] we are talking about goes way beyond a media literary effort like that, because you can read it all you want, but if it's piling up at the doors and windows, you can't get away from it.
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Gary Ruskin, director of Commercial Alert:
It's pretty easy. You just start talking about it, and conservatives and progressives are increasingly working together to counteract how advertising harms kids, particularly young kids.
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Don Hazen, director of the Independent Media Institute:
It's not easy to come up with a plan, because you know commercialism is everywhere; it's on the sidewalks, it's in the schools, it's on school-buses. It is a real problem. I think the best thing to do is to help young people.
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Next Page: But they're just doing their job, right?
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