>I think the ubiquitous role of advertising and consumerist fantasies in
>shaping people's consciousness can't be overemphasized. The best recent
>treatment of this I've seen is a video called "Advertising and the End of
>the World," by Sut Jhally at the Media Education Foundation at the
>University of Massachusetts.
I remember Sut Jhally -- a real anti-porn prude, humorless, pedantic. Hardly the final (or first) word on the ad culture. I prefer Tom Frank's "The Conquest of Cool" and the work of Howard Gossage, who understood the ultimate aim of advertising from the inside out. Also, if you read Communcation Arts, you'll see ad pros discussing the reality of their trade, warts and all. Like the business press, the ad press speaks honestly about the strategy and goals of advertising. Jhally, "ironically" enough, simply jerks off.
DP