Essay 1 Draft

In the article On Sale at Old Navy: Cool clothes for identical zombies! the author Damien Cave tries to convince readers that "Mass-market retail stores" are just trying to promote conformity. The author states that stores like Old Navy and Ikea are selling us the idea that if you where their clothing or buy their furniture you will be "cool". And that these types of stores are offering cheaper prices but at the cost of good quality. He states that this will eventually lead to the end of individualism. The author states that stores such as Old Navy have different tactics to make consumers purchase and overspend. He provides different peoples opinions throughout the article that agree with his opinion that these "mass-market retail stores" promote conformity. Naomi Klein, author of “No Logo” offers her opinion in the article saying that “consumers are being scammed by stores such as Old Navy And Ikea” and “you don’t notice you are conforming because everything is so colorful.” The article also goes on to say that these stores take away from creativity by making the consumer not have to out any thought into what they are buying. Furniture and clothing are preselected for you in hopes of convincing you to buy into a certain lifestyle, which the stores are promoting.

The author provides an opinion from Packard Jennings, an anti-consumerism activist that states that these types of mass-market stores remove all creativity from purchasing items. Jennings states that " Ikea pre-arranges sets of furniture in it's stores, thereby lessen individual thought." This proves true when you walk in a store like ikea where the bedrooms are all set up with matching color drapes and comforters, it does take all the thought out of making purchases. The same goes with manikins in department where the outfits have already been pre selected for you.The article makes a good point when talking about the tactics that retailers use to sway consumers into overspending. These tactics include providing you with oversized bags as you enter the store. Another tactic for over consumption the retailers use is the way they design there store in a way where you are forced to walk through the entire store before you finally reach the check-out. Although the author offers some very good points on how retail stores take away from individualism and promote mass conformity I feel that the article is very one-sided. He bases most of the article on opinions and hardly supports those opinions with any facts. In one situation the author implies that these stores do not offer high quality merchandise. Just because these stores offer merchandise at more affordable prices does not mean their quality is sacrificed. I feel one controversial part is when the author also quotes John Seabrook who says "Shopping is a way of putting together you identity." I believe that this statement is true in that the clothes you wear give a slight insight to a persons personality. However John Seabrook as goes on to say that Americans are either choosing to look and live alike or they are just oblivious to what is going on. I find this extremely false, where a person chooses to shop has to affect on who they are as a person. Identity is made up of many different parts including personality, beliefs, morals. It is not based solely on how a person dresses or the way their home is decorated. Just because they offer a life a certain type of lifestyle in their products people will always have different likes and dislikes. Therefore retail stores are only offering tools to display a persons personality, not trying to end individuality and market conformity.