Pleasure Seeker or Victim ?

As I have grown rather familiar with this article, the idea of the consumer and different types of consumption is increasingly interesting. As both a consumer and designer, this articles hows the relationship and the influence one has on another. The consumer can be depicted as a pleasure seeker or a victim while "consumption is either a tool for the 'invention' of self or a process that strips away our individuality."In either case, branding provides individuals with ways to belong especially those in their teenage or young adult years. The search for personal identity and individuality is clouded by advertising and marketing. Self discovery is replaced with a need for social acceptance.
The clothes an individual wears, the car they drive, the products they buy all begin to define them as a person. As a consumer, I'm constantly persuaded with branding. Everywhere everything from the grocery store, to the mall, to my closet has a label. Although it's shallow, society sometimes clouds my vision and leads me to succumb to brands rather than the actual product. I forget that "the success or failure of brands is at or fingertips" and let the brand define me. As a designer, it's important to take all of this into consideration when creating an advertisement. Designers have to be careful of the message we promote especially with such a such easily manipulative audience of consumers.