Social conflicts, philosophical accumulation, and advertisements in the 21st century

Abstract

Heidegger, Nietzsche, and Foucault associated the human existence with the power of questioning and action of freedom. Despite the action of freedom of human being as a being with questioning power, the society has become a surveillance community. According to Foucault, these two states are in a delicate balance. Man in a liberation act gets into a state of protesting and becomes rebellious when his/her private life and rights are threatened. The social life turns into a state of resistance and chaos with the rebellions of the poor and the other marginal groups. According to Foucault, the government has to face the new information, organization, and challenge of opinion groups. These views point to the existence of serious contradictions and conflicts in the society while looking at the society with philosophical evaluations. For example, the series of global conferences, TED, which started off with the slogan ‘Ideas Worth Spreading’, published Ads Worth Spreading list in its 3^rd year. These consisted of the most effective 10 advertising films of the previous year. Advertisements provide a large spectrum from social responsibility projects to inspiring projects and from entertaining works to advertisements proposing complex ideas. In these advertisements, properties such as innovation and encouragement, etc. are rewarded.

These advertisements are not the advertisements of the capitalist system which instigate over-consumption, but they are the advertisements which see the social issues, conflicts and contradictions, and emphasize and question those issues. The most powerful, well-known, and successful advertising agencies are in an elite position in these evaluations. For example, we can mention ‘Young and Rubicam’ and ‘Saatchi and Saatchi’. Another view which the advertisements studied in this paper are based on was the post-modern society evaluations of Baudrillard. He proposed the term simulation to show that the post-modern world took the place of the real and concrete as a virtual-reality. 

The philosopher emphasized at this point that the post-modern society became a world of images and signs. According to Baudrillard, revolution and freedom are structures that entrap the individuals in an array of simulation. Noteworthy advertisements of the advertising companies selected by The Top Consolidated Agency Net Works in 2013 by Estimated World Wide Revenues will be analyzed according to the views of the contemporary philosophy thinkers.

Evaluations were made in accordance with the conflicts and contradictions in the society by approaching through the windows of concepts, ideas and designs created in the 21st century world by the creative and skilled designers of these companies.

Study: was completed with the review of the literature, watching and analyzing the advertisements, and discussing and examining them through the philosophical accumulation created by the era. In this respect, the views of the expert views as well as the views of the average audience of the consumer society were included in the study.

Conclusion: The study tried to answer the question “In line with the social conflict, contradiction, and changes, can advertisements be extraordinary despite being in the capitalist production system?â€Â 

 Keywords: Communication, advertising, ads worth spreading, philosophy, critics, show society.