Advertising Invites People to Cult-Like Devotion

Ad executive Douglas Atkin notes that a transformation has taken place in what's expected of the typical ad executive at a major corporation. Rather ...

Kindergartners Identify Common Brand Logos

Christian author and speaker Skye Jethani wrote about his kindergarten-aged daughter's homework assignment: Help your child identify as many logos ...

Children Prefer Food Covered in McDonald's Wrapper

In a study included in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine children were shown to overwhelmingly prefer the taste of food that comes ...

Black Friday Trampling at Walmart

Professor James A. Roberts uses the following true story to illustrate the power of our "worldwide consumer culture" (which he defines as "the ...

If Your House Were Burning, What Would You Grab?

If your house was burning, what would you grab on your way out the door? That question intrigued photographer Foster Huntington, so he gathered his must-save ...

Changing Blue Jean Fashions Shows the Triumph of Veneer Over Depth

In their book Veneer, Timothy Willard and Jason Locy argue that contemporary American culture often values image or appearance over depth of character. ...

Similarities in Brain Responses to Religious Icons and Consumer Goods

Neurologists [once] scanned the brains of people of faith as they recalled and reexperienced the times they felt close to God, either in prayer, worship, ...

Importing the Idol of Consumerism

David Livermore writes in Serving with Eyes Wide Open:

My friend Ashish came from Northern India to visit me in Chicago. We were eating at Gino's Pizzeria ...

All Flesh Is as Grass

Consumerism is fed by a desire to forget our mortality.

Dead Giveaway

You can tell the ideals of a nation by its advertisements.