anti-consumerism 101
--------------------
On Oct. 20, Yegor Sak walked into the Apple store in Yorkdale Mall, bought an iPod, took it out of the box, and smashed it on the ground. Was Sak making a statement against a consumerist society? Was this an homage to the Dadaist's destruction as art movement? Was he protesting the way we've come to covet — and almost humanize — our personal electronics, while neglecting to consider the plight of the labourers who make them?
The act raises some interesting questions. If only there were some interesting answers. "I did it out of boredom," deadpans the 19-year-old Etobicoke resident. "It's just a random act." Sak rankled legions of iPod devotees when he launched smashmyipod.com on Oct. 4. The website invited people to donate to a fund set up to purchase a $380 iPod for the express purpose of destroying it.
While Sak was bombarded with hate mail (he lists them as "flamers"), he got plenty of support, too. In less than three weeks, enough money had trickled in — typically in denominations of $5 to $20 — to carry out the project. Many of the so-called flamers complained that Sak was wasting money that could have gone to a better cause. He flatly dismisses those accusations. If anyone's to blame, he says, it's the donors.
"The site is purely for entertainment," says Sak. "If people want to donate money to charity, they can go to the Red Cross or the Salvation Army. This isn't a charity. I'm not the one wasting money. If they want to crucify someone, they should do it to the donors. They knew what they were doing with the money, so it's their choice."
Sak says he has nothing against Apple, but thinks the iPod is overrated. He bought one a couple of years ago. It conked out after a month. "I was pissed off, because I take care of my things," he says. "I lost all my music." One of Sak's friends originally mentioned the idea a few months ago. The friend was "too lazy" to take it anywhere, so Sak, who is taking a year off school to work (as a concierge), sat down, whipped up a website and waited for the donations to pour in. And after his year off ends?
Sak plans to attend the University of Toronto — to study law.
On Oct. 20, Yegor Sak walked into the Apple store in Yorkdale Mall, bought an iPod, took it out of the box, and smashed it on the ground. Was Sak making a statement against a consumerist society? Was this an homage to the Dadaist's destruction as art movement? Was he protesting the way we've come to covet — and almost humanize — our personal electronics, while neglecting to consider the plight of the labourers who make them?
The act raises some interesting questions. If only there were some interesting answers. "I did it out of boredom," deadpans the 19-year-old Etobicoke resident. "It's just a random act." Sak rankled legions of iPod devotees when he launched smashmyipod.com on Oct. 4. The website invited people to donate to a fund set up to purchase a $380 iPod for the express purpose of destroying it.
While Sak was bombarded with hate mail (he lists them as "flamers"), he got plenty of support, too. In less than three weeks, enough money had trickled in — typically in denominations of $5 to $20 — to carry out the project. Many of the so-called flamers complained that Sak was wasting money that could have gone to a better cause. He flatly dismisses those accusations. If anyone's to blame, he says, it's the donors.
"The site is purely for entertainment," says Sak. "If people want to donate money to charity, they can go to the Red Cross or the Salvation Army. This isn't a charity. I'm not the one wasting money. If they want to crucify someone, they should do it to the donors. They knew what they were doing with the money, so it's their choice."
Sak says he has nothing against Apple, but thinks the iPod is overrated. He bought one a couple of years ago. It conked out after a month. "I was pissed off, because I take care of my things," he says. "I lost all my music." One of Sak's friends originally mentioned the idea a few months ago. The friend was "too lazy" to take it anywhere, so Sak, who is taking a year off school to work (as a concierge), sat down, whipped up a website and waited for the donations to pour in. And after his year off ends?
Sak plans to attend the University of Toronto — to study law.
— CHRISTOPHER HUTSUL, Toronto Star (2005-11-06)
--------------------
Even before you've identified the gift boxes, chandeliers and sparkling trees in the downtown store as Christmas decorations, you feel the sudden urge to start spending. It's as if a switch in your head had been flicked to shopping mode. This is exactly what and how retailers want you to think when you enter their decked-out stores in the weeks — let's make that months — leading up to Christmas, says Lars Perner, professor of marketing at San Diego State University. Perner says we're conditioned to shop when we see holiday decorations — just as Ivan Pavlov's dogs were conditioned to salivate when they heard that famous ringing bell.
"Most likely there's some kind of classical conditioning going on that's similar to Pavlov's experiments," Perner says. "It's basically an association between events. Clearly, the Christmas decorations may induce people to start shopping and spending early." Perner believes the same model applies to humans when it comes to Christmas decorations and shopping. We're used to heightened spending during the holidays, so exposure to holiday symbols can trigger a subconscious desire to shop.
For many families, Christmas is a time for togetherness, thankfulness, and passive-aggressive standoffs. This is a time to eat, drink and probe the layers of disappointment and resentment that haunt the very core of a disparate group that can be called a "family" only in the most technical, unromantic sense of the word. If Christmas imagery elicits such feelings, an emotionally rattled shopper might be less likely to exercise restraint.
Even before you've identified the gift boxes, chandeliers and sparkling trees in the downtown store as Christmas decorations, you feel the sudden urge to start spending. It's as if a switch in your head had been flicked to shopping mode. This is exactly what and how retailers want you to think when you enter their decked-out stores in the weeks — let's make that months — leading up to Christmas, says Lars Perner, professor of marketing at San Diego State University. Perner says we're conditioned to shop when we see holiday decorations — just as Ivan Pavlov's dogs were conditioned to salivate when they heard that famous ringing bell.
"Most likely there's some kind of classical conditioning going on that's similar to Pavlov's experiments," Perner says. "It's basically an association between events. Clearly, the Christmas decorations may induce people to start shopping and spending early." Perner believes the same model applies to humans when it comes to Christmas decorations and shopping. We're used to heightened spending during the holidays, so exposure to holiday symbols can trigger a subconscious desire to shop.
— CHRISTOPHER HUTSUL, Toronto Star (2005-11-06)
--------------------
posted by þΛųL jØŋαŦhΛŋ @ 16:30
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home