Dan Geisman Intellectual Essay I think that Father Kavanaugh worries that advertising is shaping our commercial values because they take the place of true moral values, and shape us into a society with a great spiritual gap at the center. Father Kavanaugh is right in many respects that advertising and the hundreds of commercial messages we receive daily shape who we are, and how we view the world around us. Even if we as people do not think about these messages consciously, they still affect our subconscious, and shape the way we view that product and others like it from now on. I think that Father Kavanaugh hit it on the nose when he said that company’s do not want us to think about their messages, but instead purposefully not think about them. Another thing that I think that Father Kavanaugh was right about was that consumerism can take the place of religion if we let it go too far, and already has taken the place of many aspects of religion in our society. Most of our biggest and most visited buildings in the country are malls, which Kavanaugh call “cathedrals of consumption, and which are the places where we show how advertising affects us. The malls also show us how our society and culture think that acquiring happiness is all about, which is the acquisition of material goods, and being viewed as ‘cool’ by others around us. If we follow this view of happiness, then we will never obtain true happiness, because as Aristotle put it thousands of years ago, we are letting our wants interfere with our real needs, and because of this, we can not obtain true happiness.
Advertising ultimately is what causes us to believe in these values, and because of this can take the place of spiritual education. Advertising shapes not only how we see the world around us, but also shapes how we view ourselves, and inevitably causes us to measure ourselves against the ideals that are presented in advertising. Father Kavanaugh is right to worry about the extremes that companies will go to in order to sell products, and how we normally respond to these extremes. Kavanaugh’s views on advertising still hold true today, despite the fact that nearly twenty years have passed since he has made his speech on it. I think that this really shows the truth of his claims, and I think that we would all do well to listen to his warnings about advertising.
The meaning of "Merchants of Cool" and the ideas it presents are that our society will do anything to make a quick buck. I saw examples of exploitation, using tactics to make people feel worse about themselves so they think they need a product, and manipulation of teen culture. I think that the message that "Merchants of Cool" says about our culture goes very well with Kavanaughs argument. "Merchants of Cool" brings up a new view on morality, one where it is alrite to exploit others weaker then you, and do what you must to make money off of them. Another thing that "Merchants of Cool" shows us is that teens most of the time do not use reason, and since the corporations do, they neccesarily have an advantage over us. "Merchants of Cool" makes it seem like the meaning of life is to accumulate wealth, and do what it takes to make sure that you can "look good" for social prowess. "Merchants of Cool" presents the idea on what it means to be human, saying that corporations want you to think that being human involves being social, picking up all the hottest trends, and doing what you can to thrive in society, not bothering with moral decisions. "Merchants of Cool" and Father Kavanaugh go hand in hand with their ideas on corporate America, and the extent that it forms who we are.