“What does fashion actually do? It sells you a suit made of a material that could last five years, and as soon as you have bought it tells you that you can’t wear it any longer because a newer one has already been created. The same principle can be used to sell anything. The motto of styling is ‘It’s Out’. As soon as one thing is sold they must invent another to supersede it” . Bruno Munari, Design as Art
If you examine the way in which people live today and give an honest assessment, for a ‘free’ society much of the behvaiour is carried out on the cue of others. Nowhere is this more evident than when it comes to shopping the cornerstone of any Capitalist society. To shop is to live, whether that be online or on the high street.
Even the die hard evangelists wouldn’t deny that the whole point of a society built around the core principles of Capitalism is to buy, buy and buy. The measure of a nation these days is its economic growth, the only way the economy grows is if the companies can persuade people to spend more of their money, the best way to do this is to create jobs, increase salaries and most importantly of all lend money.
When this cycle breaks down or slows down there is a sense of panic and a recession is announced, this means people start to complain they have less money to spend, the governments cut services and the companies lay people off.
It is in essence child’s play more money means more spending, less money means less spending, the same rules apply for governments as for the average person on the street. The fact the governments still spend money to bomb Libya whilst cutting services, is no different to Mr Smith buying a new TV or gadget whilst cutting back on food, everyone wants to have a little bit of what makes them happy.
A day before 250,000 people marched in London against the governments cuts, throngs of people queued up to be the first to purchase the two hottest gadgets on the market the iPad 2 and the Nintendo 3DS. These two events may seem diametrically opposed, however they are what makes Capitalist societies tick.
They give the masses the view that one the one hand they truly have a voice and with the other hand the overwhelming sense of materialism takes that voice of a doomed economy away from them. The methods are so subtle most won’t even recognise the contradiction.
What is worse The government cutting back on public spending in a recession? or the corporate world trying their upmost to convince the masses to spend money they don’t really have?
The only reason people don’t think it is crazy is because it has become the norm, through clever marketing and adding the X factor to products. No where is this seen more than at Apple and the products they sell, there is a special something about what they do that makes people lose their minds.
As Brenden Tansey, chief executive of marketing firm Wunderman said ”In the technology game, Steve is the only guy who can create lust,”.
This quote for a Capitalist is a good thing, the sense of irrational want for a product is after all what will makes people literally break the bank to get their hands on one. Companies spend millions of pounds and years of research to add that little ‘Je ne sais quoi’ to their products.
An article I recently read about User Experience (UX) summed up the whole notion of product design just in the title UX is 90% Desirability. Creating that desire is the key to selling products in a consumer society, that inner feeling of want for something that in reality will only bring you ‘joy’ because you have been told so. Advertising is so powerful it will even influence the manner in which you use your purchase and the very reasons you tell others to buy it, you will become evangelical about your new gadget, a ‘fan boy’ as they are called.
Products are sold on the basis of more than just what they can do or what benefit they give the consumer, they are sold with a lifestyle message. In a society that gives no credence to anything other than material or personal achievements, gadgets like the iPad 2 are status symbols more than anything else. Yes they offer a technological advancement but it is increasingly coming at the cost of any true grasp on reality.
Would people for example queue up to buy a Watch designed by Apple or maybe a Fridge or even a bottle of Water. These are some of the 16 Wacky Apple Products You Can Only Imagine, as farfetched and hypothetical as it seems I think people would. The mind-set of a consumer in a consumer society is not driven by ration but by want, not by need but by desire.
The prophet of Islam, Mohamamd (saw) said, Narrated Ibn ‘Abbas:
“If the son of Adam had money equal to a valley, then he will wish for another similar to it, for nothing can satisfy the eye of Adam’s son except dust. And Allah forgives him who repents to Him” [Bukahri, Volume 8, Book 76, Number 445]
Although as a Muslim, Islam allows me to buy anything that doesn’t contradict my beliefs and doesn’t have a negative impact on my life it also gives me a perspective on life that is beyond simple desires for products.
Allah (swt) says:
“The mutual rivalry for piling up of worldly things diverts you, until you visit the graves (i.e. till you die).” [TMQ At-Takathur 102 v1-2 ]
