Before, the car magazine over the woman’s face was a symbol of the consumer’s mindset; the sexuality of the new car line. Within this context, however, I would argue that it is a call to wake up. We do not see the effect in social scenarios until we take a step back and simply observe for a few minutes. Even then, a large number of people do not realize the shift humans have made from purchasing for necessity to buying as an accessory.

In the original ad, a pleasurable human interaction is subverted by the desire to purchase a new car. I hope to have achieved the opposite effect of this by taking the car magazine and turning it into a reason to be ashamed of what we have let the media do to our thinking. The manipulation that our society faces on a day-to-day basis is astounding. It takes a lot of self-awareness to be able to observe and admit defeat when it comes to consumerism. Most people now can name a brand by its logo, but cannot name influential past leaders by their picture.

“The ultimate distraction” today seems to be physical human interaction. We are always plugged into our phones, laptops and tablets and yet, a large number of us do not feel as if we are in any way disconnected until made aware of how far we have come since the internet was created. A visible shift can be observed even since the first smart phone was invented. Kids wish to play outside less, and parents are using new technology to keep their kids occupied.

By only changing the words and leaving the image as is, I want people to think about the effects mass media has on our thought processes and how easy it is to distract and exploit them for a corporation’s own benefit. The masses need to wake up. It is our ‘toys’ that are the distraction, not the kids on the playground. There is more value in a smile or a hug than a car could ever amount to.