Advertising in the Modern Age

A recent pondering on Twitter where I stated “Did our vision of the future ever involve so much advertising? Aside from Blade Runner, The Fifth Element, not much sci-fi reflects it.” lead to various replies disputing this fact citing such films as Minority Report (popular response), 2001, 1984 and Brazil. These films are all relatively iconic films in giving us a vision of the near future.

Yet, films like Star Wars and the Star Trek universe don’t hold much stock in it, if at all. With the case of Star Trek, the utopian ideal for the search of knowledge rather than commercial pursuits drive humanity whereas in Star Wars, they’re either in really remote locales (see: Hoth, Tatooine) where advertising doesn’t make much sense or everyone’s just privately funded and a bunch of billboards on the Death Star would just look tacky and non-menacing. In Star Wars, drinks don’t even come in beer cans — at Mos Eisley, you got a vessel of some kind.

The future, if we base it on any of the films above is coming a lot slower than we might imagine. However, the advertising is forging full steam ahead. Craig Berman replied to my Tweet with this: “Don’t forget Minority Report — tons of ads! Very much an accurate depiction of the near-near-future…”

As far as we can remember, the production of content has had to be underwritten, subsidized or funded by advertising. Pure publishing is a rare thing these days, left to independents held to a mission that’s not motivated by personal gains but for the good of the community at large.

Where does that leave us in the future? Where does humanity proceed post-capitalism, if we can at all?

‘Cause damnit if I’m going to be living in a Baskin Robbins 31-units-mega-condo-plex some day with a logo like that emblazoned on the building.