virtualization of design and production a thesis - Bilkent University

would be plain ‘consumer information’, in a simple and basic sense. However,
as a function of modern ‘consumer society’, consumption is much more than that
and the same goes for advertisement, which today is much more than the
announcement or public notice of the early nineteenth century in which potential
customers were informed about the existence and availability of specific goods.
(Falk 151)
Therefore, it is significant to understand the contribution of advertisements to the
persistence of the consumer culture. What is of concern, however, is how
linguistically and socially, advertisements happen to transform our
understanding of commodity culture and how they operate in our perceptions.
In terms of social relations advertisements have a structural and systematic
function: their sole purpose is not promoting or selling products but they are
rather responsible for creating a massive and generalized persuasion of the
society. As Zygmunt Bauman states:
“Advertising copy and commercials are meant to encourage
us and prompt us to buy a specific product. Between them,
however, they promote our interest in commodities and the
marketplaces (department stores, shopping malls) where
commodities may be found as well as the desire to possess
them. A single commercial message would hardly have an
effect on our conduct if general interest was not already well
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