Christmas is the annual apex of Consumerism all over the world. Countries like China celebrate it like mad just as so called Christian nations.
For many Companies this shopping festival is the most important date – they make 50 or more percent of their sales during these days.
We certainly could cut down on consumerism (and many stupid presents we buy and travels we make during the silly season).
But consumers won’t like a new austerity and so the waste will rage on …
Who do we like to eat saints? Is that a weird leftover from the holy communion or simply greedy consumerism?
Humanity has always been lazy, but Segway makes many people extraordinarily lazy.
A nice walk to enjoy nature actually should include some damn "walking" or at least put some effort into riding a bike …
Damn City Slickers!
Click image for more intestines.
The Kitty-fication of our society continues with on "open" Kitty. Cute toys have cute organs – of course!
Thank the Digital Gods for iPods, hard drives and flash memory. Tapes were a great and cheap medium. Remember when we taped Top of Pops from radio or made great mix tapes for our beloved girlfriends?
But tape sucked: finding the right track was hard by winding it all forward and backward. All that winding drained your Walkmans batteries and wasted precious time. Some weaker Walkmans couldn’t "pull" long C120 tapes …
The sound of tapes wasn’t that bad – because radio and records weren’t that great either. But when the CD appeared you could hear the difference, which sucked.
And tapes could simply tear or the cheap plastic parts inside could brake. So you had to know how to repair a precious tapes.
Good bye tape – you won’t be missed … ever!
People love fluffy pets – it’s only a matter of time till the toy, pet and genetic industry team up and create some cuddly abomination.
Like glowing fish nature will be perverted for the sake of consumerism. Poor animals.
I bought my first Lebkuchen in early September – so the Silly Season officially started in late summer this year.
Have you bought your Christmas presents yet?
Be a good consumer and shop for Jesus!
Today I wanted to buy some packaged sliced salmon. It looked good from the outside and wasn’t cheap either. Out of habit I checked the content description. It contained the obvious stuff like salt, sugar, anti-oxidants … and pork!?!
I understand that industrial food production relies on many chemicals to improve it’s products and make food last longer.
But pork shouldn’t be in my salmon. Thankfully the producer was honest enough to put it on it’s label – something many of his competitor won’t do.
In recent months there have been several scandals here in Germany about artificially stretched bacon and cheese – so consumers always beware!
I don’t put all the blame on the food industry: consumers want huge amount of classy food for discount prices. It’s no surprise for me that the industry uses many “techniques” to improve food to make it look & taste great, but sell it at ever low prices.
Vacations for workers – or so called little people – is a pretty new invention. Thanks to our social minded forefathers and their fight for justice we received "free days" and then even "paid vacations".
The now roaming masses created a huge tourism industry, which was actually good for developing remote places and creating even more jobs.
But your vacation is still only a privilege – if the economy goes down the drain you’ll loose it fast. And in many undeveloped nations many of our fellow humans hardly have a day off. Often they only get off work when there is a huge national or religious holiday.
So enjoy your summer vacation and drink a margarita to all those less fortunate than you!
Since the invention of consumerism producers of mass produced products have washed our brains – telling us that their products perfectly suit each individuals personal style and character.
Mass produced individuality for a mass of willing idiots.
But you are worth it!
Star Trek has been remastered and rereleased for eager Fans to consume. It is amazing to me how "real fans" will buy the same movie or TV series again and again, just because a tiny aspect has been changed.
Blade Runner – a great movie I adore – has been released in a gazillion forms. George Lucas has reedited his own saga way to many times. But each time the fans bought the "new" edition.
It is amazing how dumb "real fans" are, especially they know each episode by heart and recite the damn show without seeing it anyway.
The Recession hasn’t started this trend – but it certainly will push it ahead. More and more consumer products don’t include more and more features – but less. They go for a new minimalism that is just enough to finish the task at hand.
I think it’s an excellent trend. We need smaller, smarter und simpler products – in addition to over-engineered thingies like the iPhone and the Hummer.
Small is beautiful was always a design mantra, but “This will do” should be another one. Products that will do the job without any bells and whistles – which save cost, material and energy.
Sure Honey, it’s safe here … and we are only watching!
Each year thrill seeking tourists kill themselves despite explicit warnings and signs at dangerous places. Bored rich westerners are willing to do literally everything to get an “exciting” vacation.
Too bad that Lions in Africa actually eat people, as well as Sharks and Crocodiles in Australia …
I say let them die, time to trim the herd anyway.
Before iPods, before Computers, before CDs, before TV, before Magnetic Tapes, before Radios, before Records, before Phonograph cylinders … Music couldn’t be "saved" or "transmitted" from one place to another.
So people who liked music had to either learn an instruments or simply visit a concert.
It was not very easy to listen to a famous Tenor or Opera, unless you lived in the same city or were lucky enough that that person or performance would play in town.
So many great performances were only done once and never recorded. Today nothing is forgotten and has lead to a new phenomenon: that we listen and cling onto performers long dead. Living musicians have to compete against dead ones. So called "classics" hog shelf space and sales, it makes it hard for young musicians to make a living and achieve fame and stardom. They will always compared mercilessly with recordings from superstars …
Sometimes forgetting and "dying" is a good thing. It makes space for the new and young. But thanks to recordings certain moods or markets become the de factor standard for our ears. For example Steve Wonders’ "Happy Birthday" seems to be the one and only song for that occasion. There seem to be more and more established theme songs that cover our "emotional range" in private and movie moments.
Will future generations still be pestered by the Best of Rolling Stones, Best of Celine Dion and Best of Elton John?!
Somehow all the overpowered 3D graphics and sound effects are no substitute for fun and excitement.
And most games these days are boring and remakes of old ideas. Give me fun or give me death!
New Scientist: Porn in the USA: Conservatives are biggest consumers
Yeah, the usual games with Hypocrites. Those who are the most outraged, are the biggest consumers.
Amazing how quickly some of these celebs amass their followers and fans on various sites. This a strange real time parasite relationship between followers and alpha twitters. Can you really have a real dialogue with tens of thousands of people?
But I am sure it’s a great ego boost for these celebs and followers alike.
PS: Full disclosure – I am following Stephen Fry, because I think he is worth it.
If you can’t shave you don’t deserve a "manly" beard.
Good thing that modern consumerism provides excellent products to fake a healthy sexual life and being desired.
For years the Internet was dominated by male ingenuity and needs: computer stuff, free porn and killing each other in bloody games.
Now woman are taking control and are putting their stamp on the Internet to satisfy their gender specific needs: looking pretty, knowing all the newest gossip, shop and shop and shop …
Isn’t it great to see that biological patterns still reign supreme in the 21st Century and a totally virtual environment?!
Click image for a closer look.
Honestly – I still thing the 1991 is the sexiest version of them all. Coke out of a plastic bottle is just not the same physical sensation as holding a nice cold glass bottle.
"Overpopulation refers to when an organism’s numbers exceed the carrying capacity of its habitat."
I would love to see some hardcore numbers how many inhabitants our "habitat" can support in an sustainable way?
Our oil reserves won’t last much longer and within fifty years our petrol based lifestyle and food production will simply collapse, because the supply won’t last. At least it seems production rates already can’t keep up with demand.
But we all as a world community have to figure out how many people this planet can support – so we can plan and adjust. We will need to once again have to look seriously on family planing, productions numbers and available resources – but in a scientific way.
More? Overpopulation @ Wikipedia
Summer, sunshine, sunburns …
It’s amazing how much chemicals we spill each year to avoid the effects of soaring sunlight on our skins. And how much more we waste on treating sunburns.
Why not simply move OUT of the sunlight to avoid damage to your precious pale office complexion? Or pre-roast yourself before dragging your sorry ass into the sun? Going from pale cavemen to roasted super model in just 14 days is not recommended.
This is the real thing! From the product description:
Plays "SpongeBob SquarePants Theme" at the end of temperature taking.
So when you hear music in your ass Spongebob is ready to tell you your temperature. Isn’t merchandise a wonderful thing!
Pat Robertson would have loved this – Spongebob is for the Gays.
Photoshop and a great operator can greatly improve your career, even when you are already old and wrinkled. Hotness is no longer in the eye of the beholder, but based on the right image manipulation.
Shopping doesn’t make you more attractive or provide any form of therapy, but will make your poorer. The only people who will love your for it are your credit card company and the merchants you bless with your hard earned money …
We might laugh today at the blunt message of this 1950’s TV commercial. But has the message really changed? Individualism has become more prominent since the 1970’s – but the method is still the same: fear. The fear of being not cool, fear of NOT belonging to the big crowd, fear NOT to doing (buying) the best for your loved ones, fear of being NOT adorable, sexy, smart … whatever.
Since most products hardly differ in quality or features – they have to get their uniqueness either through “cool design” or marketing. For example: most cell phones for €100 have the same features for that prices, but they look very different and are often targeted at different crowds (business user, kids, pussy tech, etc).
And it is still fascinating that we still reacted to finely tuned amounts of fear and associations: “Oh, no this cell phone is made for woman. I am a strong guy, I am not gonna buy this although it’s cheaper and does exactly what I want it to do!”.
*inspired by OliviaB sending me a similar coffee ad*
Just because you own an expensive vehicle doesn’t mean all the hot chicks want to play with your stick as well.
Some stuff might not be rocket science, but some instructions can totally confuse us poor consumers and make simple stuff really complicated.
The modern Homo Officium needs some real thrills when he goes on vacation. Corporate life is boring and only real danger can make him feel alive.
That is why such places, bungee jumping and wild water rides are tourist attractions. Danger is the new drug for the mediocre masses to get out of their emotional caves and feel in touch with (a dangerous) reality …
*Thanks to Edosan for the image*
That commercial precisely captures two modern truths: pumping yourself up with music (via your iPod) and loads of sugar & caffeine from your local latte dealer.
Music, sugar and caffeine to make ourselves feel good and calm down our neurotic egos. We do matter! We do great stuff! We have a great job to fulfil! We are someone!
So we force our brains to feel euphoric although there is nothing to feel euphoric about. So that high that you kick yourself into is simply self-deception and worth nothing.
Stop lying to yourself and get real highs.
As a kid I would have sold you both my grannies, my mother and my father for a Stormtrooper uniform. I only managed to buy a really really really crappy helmet for a HUGE amount of of hard earned Deutschmarks back in the 80’s.
Today you simply can order that bloody thing off the intranets – but still for a price: $899.
I could save (again) that amount of money – but I am afraid there are no Fattroopers in the Star Wars Universe and dressing up a Jabba the Hut is not my idea of a good time.
Maybe I could do an oversized R2D2? Or I go as a mutant Yoda?
Poor old Barbie – and many other cultural Icons – you are no longer the coolest (girly) toy around. I wonder if people will remember Darth Vader, Pac Man, Mutant Ninja Turtles, He-Man, Pokemons, Godzilla or King Kong in a 100 years?
Lick on that Holy Spirit! Nothing is sacred these days, but it least this tasteless stuff is pretty yummy. This dead man is easy to swallow … another Jesus please!
But is this chocolate Jesus any different what Catholics do during their service: they eat his Body and drink his Blood.
Consumerism and marketing is a funny thing. Producers want you to buy more stuff than you actually. The essence of consumerism is buying NEW stuff before the old really needs to be replaced.
But to do this companies needed a new sales pitch, because throwing away perfectly good stuff makes no sense at all.
Edward Bernays – Sigmund Freuds nephew – told manufacturers to appeal to our lower and irrational instincts (based on his uncles discoveries). So the idea was to make you feel good about wasting stuff – to make you enjoy a certain brand or good, because it made you a better person.
So people would buy a car endorsed by Mr Spock – because they want to be like him – although it is highly illogical.
Smart campaign to visualize how we plunder the (green) resources of our planet. I wonder if we really still need to raise awareness of the situation – I would rather see a paper spender that limits waste in some way …
According to new research 30% of our planets usable land is used for growing food for humans. This is a HUGE number – I didn’t expect to be so high.
So it’s no surprise that so many species go extinct since we are eating up all the space and create more and more farmland to produce food and now biofuels. Plus we need space for our exploding cities and infrastructure …
Once again I think the real problem here is overpopulation. Too many humans needing too much space.
Let’s be honest: of all the legal drugs chocolate in all it’s pleasurable incarnations is not only the sweetest, but the most addictive. Chocolate has a smoothing influence in our brains and our stomachs. It’s instant (self)love in many shapes and states (still waiting for ‘inhalable’ chocolate).
But worse of all: you can get chocolate everywhere. It’s not like Heroine or Cocaine, it’s legal and everybody wants to sell it to you. Evildoers even give you chocolate for free – as a present or gratification. We even give it to our youngest kids as an incentive for good behavior – and so we start their addiction pretty early.
Nobody can escape the charming taste of chocolate! Whole nations like Belgium and Switzerland have based their economies on the production of this drug – like Afghanistan relies on Poppy production.
But please keep all these secrets to yourself – otherwise some American nut job declares a ‘War on Chocolate’ …
PS: Please leave a comment and tell us your favorite type chocolate!
Shitsenders does exactly what the name says. They collect some nice poo, package it and send it to a friend of yours. You can choose between a variety of dung (cow, elephant or gorilla) – depending on your level of friendship and depth of message you want to send.
The price? About 20 to 30 US Dollars. The effect on the receiving end? Priceless …
*I will not mention your name – but thanks for sending in that shit*
If you like Ikea you might buy more than your furniture or cake next time you visit the Swedes. They offer a wide range of homes made from pre-fabricated parts.
I am not sure if you assemble the whole thing with just a screwdriver? How big is the manual? And what to do when some part are missing?
More? Official Site and the Ikea Wikipedia entry