University of Leicester, Centre for Mass Communication Research
Advertising, Culture and Communication [MS 3012]

Consequences of planned obsolescence for consumer culture and the promotional self
Analyzing ads

by

Christoph Behrends

Table of Contents

Consumer Culture... 4

The History of Consumer Culture... 4
The Role of Advertising in a capitalist Consumer Culture... 4

How to analyze Ads... 5

Consequences of planned Obsolescence... 6

Advertising creates new Needs constantly... 6
Advertisements praise the New to be better than the Old... 7
Convincing consumers of the indispensable Possession of a Product... 8
Products and images... 8
Strategies to deal with obsolescence... 9

Conclusion... 10

Literatur... 11

Appendix: Ads... 12

List of Figures

Ad 1: AYDS diet pills (1969)... 12
Ad 2: Microsoft Windows (1990)... 13
Ad 3: GANT... 14
Ad 4: Nike (1993)... 15
Ad 5: US Army (1994)... 16

Introduction

During the 20th century, the industrialised countries have developed an extensive amount of obsolescence. According to the Website “Volunteer Now!” it has become clear that nations in the developed world over-consume, while the poor in the developing world pay the price of our increased consumption with their lowered standards of living and increasing environmental damage1.
A quite evident example for planned obsolescence can be found among the sound and video storage medium industry. The DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) was introduced in the end of the 1990s to replace old, analogue video recording systems such as VHS and Betacam, although development divisions had already designed a new standard for this medium.2 An arguable point is, that the new blue laser DVD or DivX technology has not been introduced yet because the major manufacturers want to sell their old products first and want to be one step ahead of the consumers. Apart from that, companies have tried to introduce new technologies, such as Sony and Philips′ s Super Audio CD, DCC (Digital Compact Cassette) or the DAT (Digital Audio Tape) system for years for the purpose of inciting customers to replace their old recordings by ones of new standards (Terrel 1999).
However, planned obsolescence cannot only be found in storage medium standards. This essay is about how planned obsolescence emerged and which consequences it had and still has for consumer culture and the promotional self on a broader scale.

Consumer Culture

The History of Consumer Culture

Consumerism is nothing new. People need to consume resources, especially food and water to survive. The concept of needs explores the social relation between private life and public institutions (Slater, 1997: 2). Nevertheless, with the establishment of consumer culture during the 18th century, also obsolescence evolved. According to Slater, the 1920s was probably the first decade to proclaim a generalized ideology of affluence (Slater, 1997: p. 12). Economy changed from largely agricultural and artisanal modes of production to a predominantly industrial one (Leiss et al, 1997: 5). Although the want to consume was not new at all, this was the first point in history when industry was producing more goods than needed by society. According to Slater (Slater 1997: p.24-32), this development had seven key features:

1. society’s core values have been linked to consumption
2. social relations were shaped by the market
3. mass and impersonal relations of exchange emerged
4. freedom was privatised
5. the conviction that need and desire are normal and necessary was spread
6. Negotiation of identity and status
7. an increasing importance of culture

This development implicated an increase of obsolescence. Because industry was producing more than needed, ways had to be found to convince the consumer of buying a specific product. The function of consumer advertising was, and still is, to create demand among consumers to ensure that the goods produced in large numbers by mass production are bought in equally large numbers (Leiss et al 1997: p. 18). The Role of Advertising in a capitalist Consumer Culture

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