1- According to Berger, how do “publicity”–what we would call advertising–images influence consumers and why is this significant?

According to Berger, publicity influences consumers to buy something more in order to achieve their dreams than to have glamorous lives like people can have in pictures. He claims that publicity is producing glamour. Glamour is for everybody who believes that they can be glamorous. Even though, there are only a few people that achieve this life style, it doesn’t stop people from fantasizing and being envious of the glamorous lifestyles displayed in pictures. Therefore, publicity encourages consumers to buy more things that are not necessarily essential but rather are needed to make consumers feel like they are glamorous.

2- As he compares oil painting to publicity (advertising) photography, Berger argues that oil painting “showed what the owner was already enjoying among his possessions and way of life;” “it enhanced his view of himself as he already was.” Whereas publicity pictures, “appeal to a way of life that we aspire to or think we aspire to.” Why are these differences important? What do they reveal to us about the production of images for publicity?

Berger emphasizes that there are fundamental differences between publicity and oil paintings. He doesn’t deny that publicity and oil paintings are used by many of the same references such as concept, gesture and pose. They celebrate the same qualities in things. On one hand, publicity works on glamour that people want to have by making them spend their money. On the other hand, for owners of oil paintings, glamour doesn’t exist. They don’t need to spend money. They already have wealthy, elegant lives, as most of time painting represents exactly what kind of life an owner of an oil painting has. It reveals to us that production of images is not only an art, but also are tools for publicity in order to make money from consumers.

3- Choose one of the “dreams” he offers or think of your own. How does this dream offered by advertising use imagery to manipulate consumers?

Berger mentions three dreams in episode four. The dream of a far away place advertises consumers to travel and having an adventure. As can be seen in pictures, main characters wear their own clothes without matching other characters or concepts in pictures. It helps us to put ourselves in the shoes of main characters and imagine that we could also be there and have our own adventures.