Summary of Baudrillard

Absolute Advertising, Ground Zero Advertising


Baudrillard is of the opinion that advertising is superficial, has no depth and is a triumph of lost or misinformation. He argues that it is unarticulated, instant and instantly forgotten. However, it still holds power.
He refers to the public as a, "bewildered audience" (Baudrillard, 1994 pg 88) of advertising, as advertising is everywhere. It has imposed itself into society, enveloping it and thrives at the expense of everything else.

He also argues that advertising no longer excites the public as a form of communication, as now that cybernetic and digital communication does so much more to simplify communication for us than advertising ever did. So, the increase of computer science language is rendering advertising useless. Baudrillard suggests that, "the 'thrill' of advertising has been displaced onto computers and onto the miniaturisation of everyday life by computer science" (Baudrillard, 1994 pg 89).
To go further, he argues that advertising is in fact no longer a form of communication at all. What it once was, has been lost and now advertising lies within society in all its forms. The message it once sent out about commodity purchase is now more of a reflection or a mockery of society and culture. The message that was, "'I buy, I consume, I take pleasure' today repeats in other forms, 'I vote, I participate, I am present, I am concerned'" (Baudrillard, 1994 pg 91).

To repeat a similar argument to that of his other chapters, he concludes by saying that the absolute cover over society by advertising leads of over saturation of information, leading to confusion and eventually emission of any meaning. The language we believe to be communication, is in fact staged and so becomes a hyperreality.
Baudrillard uses the example of the city of Las Vegas; as the city appears from the desert into the bright lights of billboards and advertisments, it is not the adverts that brighten or decorate the city, but instead wipe out all things that are solid- the walls, the streets, the buildings and any depth and, "that is the empty and inescapable form of seduction" (Baudrillard, 1994 pg 92).

Baudrillard, J (1994) Simulacra and Simulation, USA: The University of Michigan.