Results of "Advertising and the End of the World" Family Activity

All four families earned the 5 activity points for this exercise, and the Black, Blue, and Yellow families earned 2 bonus points because I was able to make up a final exam question based on the paragraph they submitted. The Green family missed out because I did not get a paragraph from them. Below are the final exam questions I made up based on these submissions, along with the expected answers.

BLACK FAMILY: In the context of "Advertising and the End of the World," when people are asked about what brings them happiness or fulfillment most people indicate what sort of values? (1pt)
Answer: social values such as friendship, love, autonomy, etc.

YELLOW FAMILY: In the context of "Advertising and the End of the World," the moderator Sut Jhally noted that advertising creates what "illusion" in terms of how it addresses the question of happiness? (1pt)
Answer: It creates the illusion that social values and desires can be fulfilled by consuming material products.

BLUE FAMILY: In the context of "Advertising and the End of the World," what is advertising's view of the future, and why is this a problem? (2pts)
Answer: Advertising, like business in general, is very present-oriented; it's all about fulfilling immediate needs and desires. This is a problem because many of the problems (eg., global warming) that we face are long-term and require planning decades into the future.


Make sure to copy these questions and answers. They will be on the final exam.


See you next Tuesday (4/22) and be ready with any questions about Consumed. Also, we may begin to talk about The Cheating Culture.