A Better Way Of Doing Things

Since the growth of consumerism in the early 1950's, our nation has been eager to have the latests and greatest things.  Thanks to the advertising industries, it is nearly impossible to walk the city streets without recognizing the all too familiar golden arches, bus ads promoting buying from the local farmer's market, or billboards convincing you that it's best to switch to Geico to save 15% or more on car insurance.  Companies have mastered online advertising down to a science, remembering every page you visited online, every word you googled, exactly when and where you searched for it.  Technology and the media linger around every corner, desensitizing us from the things that should matter and numbing our youth to the point where they will no longer care enough to cause change.  Are the effects of living in an advertised world irreversible?  Would it be possible to use these tactics for a greater cause?

As a third year graphic design major at San Jose State,  I feel as though it is a possibility to change the direction of the next generations to come, and it's not only the non-profit organizations that are able to do so. TOMS, a shoe company is a prime example of using what is "in" to our society for the benefit of the rest of the world.  CEO Blake Mycoskie first thought of TOMS while revisiting Buenos Aires after falling in love with the country while being on the show "The Amazing Race" in 2006.  He saw men wearing alpargatas, a canvas based slip on shoe with a rubber sole, and started wearing them himself.  After some time doing volunteer work with children, he saw how the barefooted children were hindered from going to school and were at risk of getting hurt on the rock paved grounds.  From there, Blake came up with the idea that for every shoe he would sell, he would give to a child in need.  Giving to these poorer regions wouldn't be a one-time deal, but a lasting committed relationship that has branched to other countries including South Africa, Haiti, Argentina, and the United States.  Not only is TOMS giving out shoes to children, they are also providing jobs over seas by creating manufacturing factories for those children's families to work.

Personally, I think that advertising has obscured the way we see the world and our role within it.  But that doesn't mean that its affects are irreversible or can't be used for something positive.  In joining advertising, I hope to learn the skills and gain the mind of a marketer as well as consumer so that my own efforts of raising awareness would be affective on this campus or wherever my future lies.