Not Buying It by Judith Levin

Generally, the Hewlett Packard ad is a culmination of the ultimate purpose of the writer’s intention to influence the downward trend on consumerism. In analyzing the ad, it is important to underscore the fact that giving up shopping completely especially in North America is not only impossible but also inconceivable as everybody will have to buy essential elements like food. However, what stands out in the book that is further reflected in the ad is the possibility of differentiating what is necessary and has to be purchased and what can be considered a luxury which consequently a person can do without. In short, the whole ad is a reflection of the desire for change in popular consumerism which has taken the North America by storm (Judith Levine, 150).

Turning explicitly to the ad, it becomes apparent that there are certain elements or products that human beings can do without. That is, impulse buying should not form part of human consumerism culture as it has the capacity to ruin a lot of human life instead of making it. Looking deeply into the events before the ad, Levin introduces the life in Hardwick which by all dimensions is impoverished. However, one does not find any suggestions or proofs to show that people in this neighborhood are not contented with their low consumerism culture, as it is their unwillingness to consume that has kept them at the lowest ladder in the society (Judith Levine, 155).

 

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Having realized that the people in Hardwick are not interested in incurring unnecessary expenditures more so on goods and services they can safely produce, the owners of the ad are determined to change this situation by luring people in the neighborhood. For instance, look at the things the advert acknowledges to be absent amongst the population, razor, fork, mail and comb. All these materials according to the definition of neighborhood members were not essential; hence, they could do without them. However, despite the fact that essential elements like razor are absent, the ad promises the public that they still will have descent living at low cost using the new printing technology. In summary, the ad is more of an enticing strategy to the people in the impoverished neighborhood to start having a normal lifestyle characterized by capital spending (172).

There seems to be a lot of sense in including the ad in its real form than just mere narration. Such action by Levin in my opinion are directed towards the reader who might feel swayed by the book and forget to underscore the real importance of life characterized by lower consumerism levels. That is, Levin is putting more weight on the direction the society was taking towards a life where unnecessary spending was abolished. As such therefore, companies as well as business entities ready to change the situation by encouraging consumerism had no choice but to invest in changing people’s attitudes and ideologies. For instance, look at Richard who quit his job in order to have a life free of unnecessary spending. Changing such attitude would require extensive investment in ad to act as a medium of change (Robert, 41).

In terms of the effectiveness of the ad, I do believe that the message is well communicated with ad than it would have been without it. In normal circumstances, a well framed and presented ad would speak well than when somebody undertakes to narrate about a particular product. It is human nature that people prefer to witness by their own eyes than when narrated to. In this perspective therefore, Levin has had her good chance of making her message sink into the minds of her readers deeper than it would have been supposed she resorted to narrating.