Apply the following quote to a real life example. Remember to relate the example back to critical theory: “In advanced societies, however, culture has become synonymous with industry and hence subject to the rule of efficient production and standardization that is its hallmark. The relationship between mass culture and the individual is one akin to that of seller and buyer.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The way that branding today has developed is akin to the theoretical argument Adorno presents. Adorno argued that although individuals are the object of the culture industry, and that the subject is king; the reality is that the culture industry knows that the king will not bite. Indeed, the everyday person is more interested in purchasing a perceived reality to achieve it more so than the real person behind the subject is interested in it. Why is this the case? Maybe because the brand itself is left to the sociological imagination instead of to empower or enhance a social role. The more people buy into a social phenomenon the less special it is and the strength of that power is lost over time. Branding only works as long as people are buying and when people are not buying they are not interested because maybe they already envision themselves as possessing it or as irrelevant.