Objects of Affection (book)

Objects of Affection Semiotics and Consumer Culture
Arthur ASA Berger
Palgrave Macmillan 2010 New York

Chapter One
The Science of Signs


Marshall McLuhan
wrote "The Mechanical Bride: Folklore of Industrial Man"
its a "study of american commercial culture"
he analyzes product adverts
page 12


Marshall Blonsky
wrote "American Mythologies"
same as Roland Barthes but instead of French ads he did American ones
page 12/13


"Saussure believed that symbols are never completely arbitrary, suggesting that there is usually some kind of quasi-arbitray or rudimentary bond between symbolic signifiers and what they signify"
page 14


"Advertising works by generating dissatisfactions and anxieties in people and feeds on the alienation that pervades capitalist societies. It assuages these feelings by focusing attention on private consumption. "
page 45

"Another thing advertising does is promote narcissism; it leads people to focus on their own wants and desires "
page 45

Jean Baudrillard
wrote " The System of Objects"
France 1968
translated to English 1996


"signs are all important, and for Baudrillard they create a "hyper reality" that seems more real than reality"
page 50

"things we purchase are no longer evaluated in terms of their use or functionality but rather in terms of what they signify about us - what they reveal about us, such as our taste, our style, our socioeconomic level, and our attitudes towards authority. This means that it is their semiotic meaning that is now all-important. "
page 50

"people who wear a brand-name fragrance are identifying with the brand more than with the name of the product. "
page 98

"many people are careful in their choices of perfumes and other fashion products"
page 98

"many perfumes are given french or Italian names because in the popular imagination, italian products suggest luxury and refinement and french names suggest sophistication, sex and elite culture"
page 98

"In his book, Media Semiotics, Marcel Danesi explains the importance of brands to people who purchase them. He says that brands function at two levels. At the denotative level, a brand indicates a particular product. But brands function mostly at the connotative level"
page 111