American+Dream-+Greed

 The American Dream:

THE CONSUMER CULTURE

and now were loosing our individuality to

it...

Money Rules All

We all wish there was a real money tree... In American society, money is what matters!  Companies spend billions to make sure that you know their product. In 2001, on direct media advertising, that's radio, television and print, McDonald's spent 1.4 Billion dollars worldwide. On direct media advertising, Pepsi spent more than a billion dollars. To advertise candy, Hershey foods spent a mere 200 million dollars internationally. In it's peak year the '5 a Day Vegetable Campaigns' total advertising budget in all media was a lowly 2 million dollars, 100 times less than just the direct media budget of one candy company.  === [|Morgan Spurlock]   : What is this a picture of? Child: I don't know. George W. Bush? [Morgan shows the camera that it is actually a picture of Jesus]    : [to kids] I'm gonna show you some pictures and I want you to tell me who they are. Children: OK. [|Morgan Spurlock] : [Showing a picture of George Washington] Who's that? Child: George Washington? Children: Good. Who was he? Children: He was the 4th president. He freed the slaves. He could never tell a lie. [|Morgan Spurlock] : [Shows picture that you can't see] Who's that? Child: George W. Bush? [|Morgan Spurlock] : No. That's a good guess though. [Shows picture and its a picture of Jesus] [|Morgan Spurlock] : Who is this? [Shows a picture of Wendy] Child: Wendy! [|Morgan Spurlock] : Nice! [|Morgan Spurlock] : Who's that? [Shows picture of Ronald MacDonald] Child: MacDonald, Ronald MacDonald. Child: MacDonald! [|Morgan Spurlock] : What does he do? Child: He helps people at the cash register. Child: He works at MacDonald's. I love the pancakes and sausage! Child: He brings everyone of his friends to McDonald's for a Happy Meal [|Morgan Spurlock] : Where have you seen him? Child: On television, on the commercials. Child: He's the character that made McDonald's, and he does a lot of funny stuff on TV. (exceprt from the movie Supersize Me, 2004) ===

"...and he must be about His Father's business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end." (F. Scott Fitzgerald, Great Gatsby p.98) 

 “young English men dotted about; all well dressed… and all talking in low, earnest voices to solid and prosperous Americans… They were at least agonizingly away of the easy money in the vicinity and convinced it was theirs for a few words in the right key” (Fitzgerald, The Great Gastby p. 42) 



====<span style="font-size: 150%; color: rgb(91, 71, 209); font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif">**The consumer culture has gotten to our heads.** ====

[|Information about Famine]

<span style="font-size: 210%; color: rgb(118, 47, 157); font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif">

<span style="font-size: 210%; color: rgb(118, 47, 157); font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif"> **OBSESSED ADDICTED SELF INDULGENT CONSUMED**
Consumer Culture Reflection!

American Beauty. Can We Keep Up?