In John Berger’s Ways of Seeing Episode 4, he observes that advertising images are all around us and affect us in ways we might not even realize. He states “We change ourselves by buying more.” In other words, Berger is saying that advertisement images are promising consumers that if we buy their products, we will become members of elite society. This is significant because, Berger asserts, it persuades us and makes us covet objects and lifestyles that we don’t have.

When you state that “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.”” it allows us to compare why these differences are important. They are important because even though oil paintings and advertising photography are similar in the way that it shows a glamorized version of reality, in the past aristocrats were born into riches, whereas the poor or working class did not usually have access to these works and did not have a chance to rise above their status and obtain them. Whereas now, we are in a democratic society, in theory anyone can rise above their class to reach a higher status. This in turn proves adverts to be more persuading and able to make us envious, by suggesting that we can change our status just by purchasing their products.
According to John Berger “The things in which publicity sells are in themselves neutral, just objects and so they have to be made glamorous by being inserted into context which are exotic enough to be arresting but not close enough to us to offer a threat.” The essence of Berger’s argument is that production of images for publicity is highly thought out and planned, so that the images can affect us deep within our core, subliminally, to the point where it manipulates us without us knowing.

In one of John Berger’s dreams, Later Tonight, he frames it as being a dream in which you are sexually desirable. He states “Everyone is surrounded by what brings pleasure, but it is you who will bring the greatest pleasure of all.” In making this comment, Berger is saying that even though the women in the adverts are having a good time and surrounded by alcohol and other pleasurable things, they are only looking to you to give them pleasure. This is corroborated by the images used by the advertisements that Berger selected. He shows many images of women looking at the male or male viewer with a sultry gaze, even though she is usually surrounded by a party.