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Doug White: Assuming that the government is overthrown by a small, well-armed militia group who installs me as a benevolent dictator, I would take several steps against the marketing machine that is turning American consumers into sheep.

The first thing I would do is ban any company that markets to teenagers from creating advertising which implies that owning their product is an act of rebellion after more than 50 percent of a sample of teenagers have been found to own the product.

Also, any music artist who sells more than 500,000 copies of an album on which more than half of the songs were written by someone else must release an album of original songs. An E.P. would suffice.

Any show with a target audience younger than 12 should have no commercial breaks.

Finally, MTV should be shut down, and all their executives, content managers and those veejays should be stoned to death.

Amy Benson Brown: "The revolution will not be televised -- the revolution will be live" is the refrain of an old Gil Scott-Heron song that sums up my hopes for combating the ubiquitous presence of marketing in the lives of American families.

We've got to be there -- alive in the moment when advertising enters our preschooler's or toddler's consciousness. Better yet, we've got to get there first. In a perfect world, moms and dads aren't always cooking, checking e-mail or doing the laundry while their preschoolers are fed a stream of images designed to nurture the consumer within. It just might rob consumer culture of some of its tremendous power if we talked about it as a problem openly and early with our kids -- just like we do with issues of violence, drugs and other things that threaten our bodies and souls. It's not a high-tech solution or an expensive one, but I have reason to think it does at least a little good.

Sitting on the couch on a ordinary afternoon last fall with my 4-year-old, I had a small moment of victory over the forces that fill my mailbox to overflowing. Talking back to a commercial, my daughter cocked her head and said suspiciously, "They're just trying to get us to buy something we don't really need."

Rob Freeman: High-effort activities are key to the revolution. Say "yes" to playing an instrument, studying martial arts, learning to draw or paint, just getting out and doing anything active. You must keep in mind that things take time to master, that learning something worthy requires being a beginner. One must be able to accept being a beginner at things. Too many of us have such fragile egos, and don't take things up for fear of being a beginner.

The admen have gotten the better of so many of us because they have taken advantage of our passivity. The Soviets had their ideal "New Soviet Man," and the corporations no doubt have their ideal American consumer. The "New American Consumer" works long hours, has little time for hobbies and, when he or she does have time for recreation, goes to Disney World or to the movies. The "New American Consumer" owns a new car, follows televised sports and over the years has developed an extremely narrow, stilted mind, and hardening arteries. His or her health is deteriorating, and he or she will turn to expensive pharmaceuticals to stay alive and in functioning health.

Do everything possible to do the opposite of the "New American Consumer." Stay healthy, drive an old car or no car at all, limit media use, don't waste time on computer games. Realize you have a finite time of life; use it well. Take up one or more high-effort hobbies, and realize that it's not so terrible to be a beginner. You will find that the condition of being a totally raw beginner doesn't last that long in almost any endeavor, and eventually you will lose this irrational fear.

And if you are a parent, this program applies all the more. You must lead your children by example.

Omri Schwarz: It's a shame there's this pesky Constitution forbidding [a ban on advertising]. But after the revolution comes, that won't be an issue, right?

1. No adverts of any kind would be allowed during children's TV programming.

2. There would be no adverts for children's TV programming.

Now, nobody will produce children's programming without some desire to tell kids something meaningful. Of course, under such a system no kids would watch television.

Problem solved.
salon.com | March 27, 2000

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