The Shift of American Dreams through Advertisements

Essay by wingsmein November 2008

download word file, 7 pages 0.0

America is a country with wealth, dream and freedom. It is a dreamland, a paradise for many people from other places. Hence, America becomes a big melting pot for all diversities, all ethnicities. It seems a very big happy strong country that can manipulate other countries which our president believes that they need help. However, due to our wealth, our dream and our freedom, now we are all facing the very critical moment in U.S. history – we are the most materialist country in the world which we are facing a dead-end now. We are so materialistic that there is a movie called, “Material Girl”. Our world famous singer, Madonna, even sings a song called “Material Girl”. It becomes a birthmark to our people. It becomes a disease to our country. We are a consuming country which has a very abstruse connection between consumer and advertiser. Due to this connection, our society slowly turns into a capitalistic-consumerism country which people believe American dream is freedom only, a free will to consume anything they prefer.

We are a country in which every citizen, besides Native Americans, came from somewhere else, often arriving with a dream of freedom in some ways. Besides royal family members or elite scholars, people work their way up to become a middle-class. It was quite fair that in the beginning people who worked the most were more likely to become a middle-class person. In order to be a middle-class, we have to be wealthy enough to purchase materials or things that those upper-class people would buy. From that point, the idea of consumerism was slowly invaded into our blood. It became very practical that we had to work our way up to consume. This was the time period of mid 19th century. It also was the time...