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Sometime around 1962 I was riding a bus in NYC and was looking at all the advertisiing placards around the perimeter of the ceiling. Something about them bothered me and I mused on that for days and finally it struck me like a bolt of lightening. They were all in the imperative. They were telling me what to do, and in some cases, when and how. For example, “Get the best mortgage rate available/” “Call now to reserve your place at the hotel of your dreams.” “See the new model at your favorite dealer. “ “Stay at New York’s finest….” “Pay no more than 10% down….” “Eat at Joe’s Diner” “Win a trip to wherever…” and you can think of many more such examples such as a slogan connected to a sports shoe that said, “Just do it!” And a take off on the cover of a business magazine, “Do it. Get Rich.” And from the world of fitness, “Beat the bulge.” And “Lose the flabby look.” The end result as I saw it was "Spend, Buy, Waste, Want, Borrow." And here's the rub.

Those were in direct conflict with what I had learned growing up. "Save, Use, Keep, Have and Give."

I wrote a post about it and will consider updating in light of your good analysis of our culture of conspicuous consumption before we are all consumed. Thanks, Jen!

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Wow. I feel exactly the same. No wonder we feel so squirmy looking at ads--they are in direct opposition to our values.

Thank you for sharing this

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May 26Liked by Jen Hitze

This article reminds me of days when it was normal to see signs saying things like "you must be this high to take this ride". Similarly, I think you might need to be at least 40 to appreciate the changes in how media is supported.

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Sadly, you are correct. But hopefully the younger generations (like mine) catch on. It just takes a fully developed frontal cortex (and some values)

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Jen, your writing (and the thought process behind it of course) is a huge contribution to your readers, especially to me. Thank you!

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James, thank you so much! This means the world to me

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May 26Liked by Jen Hitze

Great piece. The old, great newspapers provided another benefit. Yes, they had ads, but the ads didn't intrude. A serious reader could focus on an article, or an editorial, and devote 100% of mind space to it. The only distraction was turning to page x to continue reading. I believe I received as much real education, as opposed to job training, from reading great daily newspapers. But I got my Bachelor's degree in 1962 and had been reading the Miami Herald since grade school.

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Thats amazing! I'm a big fan of newspapers, too :)

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“Our minds will cultivate whatever we ingest. Consume crap, grow weeds.”

Great piece. Need to read a couple times to digest.

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Thank you so much!

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Thank you, thank you, thank you! Your incisive columns have explained the "power" of Substacks. Due to my wife and I being on a limited budget, I'm planning to start my own contribution, hopefully, to get an additional stream of income to help insure we don't have to sacrifice things like having a dessert from time to time with our home meals. I'm not looking to be "wealthy," just make life a bet better, since we're in our 80's, and don't want to be placed in a crappy retirement home. Prayers and blessings I send to you!

Jack Harkrider

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Best wishes to you, Jack!

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Three players to consider: creator, consumer, and platform. Platforms bring creators and consumers together. The bigger the size, the more successful they can be. So there’s a natural move towards monopoly power. And the more a company runs as a monopoly, the riskier the situation for consumers and producers. It’s complicated.

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This is such a good way to look at it! I struggled trying to make sense of it all, but if I had started there if likely wouldve been a bit easier! Thanks so much for reading my work, Dan!

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Traditional media has devolved to do little more than get your attention. There are many hollow ways to achieve success against the metric, including making you angry, sad or reinforcing untruths that you want to hear. Not a good look.

The creator economy is the breeding ground for the next generation of digital leaders. Providing inspiration, challenge and value is necessary to build a following.

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🙌

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Great 💎

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🙏

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Very interesting post, and you've sold it to me! I am wary of taking out paid subscriptions, partly because I already get too much content in my inbox, and also because I don't always find value in what I have paid for. There has to be time for my own work as well as following other writers, and also for reading books! I also subscribe to an online newspaper which I don't read as much as I should, and a print magazine. While there is now room for creatives to express themselves either by writing (here on Substack and elsewhere) without having had to go through a submission process and editorial input, or making videos (YouTube - guilty, but not with financial gain in mind) and podcasts, the quality is questionable and you have to ask, is it worth it? Thank you for your discount - it's persuaded me to subscribe for this year/

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Nicola, thank you so much for you support! I truly appreciate you.

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So well researched. Thanks for this.

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Thank you, Jeanine!

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May 27Liked by Jen Hitze

I love it but how did it come up with?

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lots of time and effort!

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Good as usual, Jen. Never heard of Muddling Through but not a huge Jennifer Aniston fan (or her Rachel character).

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Thanks Karl!

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Why does it feel like every social media is moving towards being a newsfeed and ad board?

I mean, where should we turn to if we just want to be creative and do 1:1 work with people. I just wish there was a place where things were based around writing and intellect and not around pretty faces and graphics to pull attention so they can sell products by MNCs and startups anymore.

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Totally agree, Sudhanshu. We must be the change we want to see in the world.

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Excellent read. I find it funny that this day we called well learned people of the past, cultured. Love when words have vastly different meanings over time.

Romans developed an education system of the trivium and quadrivium. Excelling at this we would call them cultured, but to Romans it was very important to advancement in society.

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RemovedMay 28Liked by Jen Hitze
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thank you!

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