Discussion

This discussion post will help us to begin to explore our own consumerism (one major effect of advertising), and perhaps, the influence advertising/media has had on us. Please share an experience from your past where you begged and pleaded for some sort of material object or product. Tell us the story: what was it that you ‘needed’ so badly, and why did you want it at the time. Did you finally get this thing? What did it do for you? Did it live up to the expectations you placed on it? If you could talk to your younger self now, what would you tell yourself about this experience?

My example is my obsession with getting the original Nintendo Entertainment System back in the day. All my friends had it, and I drove my parents nuts trying to get them to buy it for me. After much deliberating, they made a deal with me. It was my first season of organized basketball, and they said if I scored 25 points during the ‘season’ they would by it for me. This seemed like a reasonable bribe to them. I appeared to be a very unaggressive player and had only scored 4 pts in the first game of an 8 game season. Game 2, after the deal was struck with my parents, I scored 22 pts and it was clear I would be getting the Nintendo…

An original response of at least 300 words should be posted by Tuesday’s class time, followed by two replies to your peers’ posts by Thursday’s class.