Quotes About Consumerism

First rule of Economics 101: our desires are insatiable. Second rule: we can stomach only three Big Macs at a time.

There was a period of time in America where the advertising world actually went to the housewives of America and had them write jingles that would appeal to them. It was actually brilliant marketing.

A people who's primary aims are driving, shopping, and television are subject to terrorism at any time.

Good brands do three things for highly stressed out consumers: 1. They save time. 2. They project the right message. 3. They provide an identity.

A woman does not spend all her time in buying things; she spends part of it in taking them back.

I grew up in the 80s and that was the first time advertising was considered seriously as anything resembling an art form.

You live in the city and all the time there are signs telling you what to do and billboards trying to sell you something.

In America, money is God.

Didn't go in, just hovered outside like homeless person because (a) place was too small and Detta would have spotted me, and (b) once you're through doors of shop like that, if you try to leave without buying anything, they shoot you in the back with sniper's rifle.

Giving people a lot of consumer products but not giving them information is like giving people lots of candy but withholding basic nourishment. Perhaps if you give people a way to make more money, they won't notice that you've taken away something even more precious. If you legitimize their self-centeredness, they'll be more likely to forget about their ancestors, their fellow citizens, or their descendants.

Giving people a lot of consumer products but not giving them information is like giving people lots of candy but withholding basic nourishment.

The burden of originality is one that most people don't want to accept. They'd rather sit in front of the TV and let that tell them what they're supposed to like, what they're supposed to buy, and what they're supposed to laugh at.

I spent hours flipping through the stations, watching Pat Robertson preach about society's evils and then ask people to call him with their credit card number.

It's hard, in America, not to equate 'happiness' with 'things'.

they're weak, petty, so apathetic about this gift of life as if it were all a mere Pepsi commercial.

As incisively pointed out in the documentary 'Food Inc.', an overwhelmingly large percentage of 'new,' 'healthy,' and 'organic' alternative food products are actually owned by the same parent companies that scared us into the organic aisle in the first place. They got you comin' and goin' has never been truer.

Starbucks's truly beautiful idea was the simple realization that Americans wanted to spend more money for a cup of coffee, that they'd feel much better about themselves if they spent five dollars for a cup of joe rather than buy that cheap drip stuff that shows such as Friends suggested only fat white trash in housecoats (or people who actually worked for a living) drank anymore—in their trailer parks or meth labs or wherever such people huddled for comfort.

The next folks to arrive will be the cat-food people. Think about that when you see the 'Discount Sushi' sign.

Adorno treated popular culture as a ghastly trick played by capitalism on the masses.

Yet there are still 100 million people invested in actively managed mutual funds. How is that humanly possible? JB: Well, never underestimate the power of marketing.

P]eople don't want freedom. They only want to consume. They look at the commercials, totally captivated, and get into debt so they can buy everything.

The materialists." "The head of General Motors or the woman buying groceries at the supermarket?" "Both. They both contribute to the erosion of those parts of life that are healthy, benevolent, and in harmony with nature. They are the water that cuts away at the sandy bank of our existence, making our foothold on this planet increasingly precarious.

Oh yes, we once tried to put this thick catsup in a wide-mouth bottle so it would pour easily, and the company almost went broke—the American housewife refused to touch it because the shape of the container had been changed. It has taken us fifteen years to enlarge the neck of the bottle by one quarter of an inch.

You can put them in a room with QVC and they'll be as happy as clams." "QVC?" the demons said in unison. Simi looked at her watch. "It Diamonique time, too. Where's a TV?" Sin