Jesus Is A Pair Of Jean Kilbourne Summary

In Jean Kilbourne’s article “Jesus Is a Pair of Jeans" she made some valid statements. Kilbourne explains to us the effects and purpose of advertisements, and how the advertisers do know who they target the ads for, the addict. “The addict is the ideal customer. Ten percent of drinkers consume over sixty percent of all the alcohol sold.” (Page 34) She states how the advertisers are targeting the people who struggle with addiction or are young and easily influenced with “Advertisers spend enormous amounts of money on psychological research and understand addiction very well. They use this knowledge to target children (because if you hook them early, they are yours for life)." (Page 34). Although she also says “advertisers aren’t evil; they’re just doing their job, which is to sell product.” (Page 35). Recognizing that the advertisers are just trying to sell the product, not necessarily ruin the consumer’s life. Although that happens along the way a majority of the time because those children grow up and do not know anything different, and are convinced that the consumption of said product is the only way to be satisfied in life.

Kilbourne writes about what the problems advertisements do actually provide by saying; “The problem with advertising isn’t that it creates artificial longings and needs, but that it exploits our very real and human desires.” (Page 33) Noting that the problem is not the advertisers creating false desires, but the use of our human desires against us, to coax us into buying something.

Kilbourne writes about the advertisers promoting the corruption of our human nature, the use of our desires and longing of intimacy with another, to convince us that a material object can fulfill those needs, and that it is better than an actual person to person relationship by writing “many ads state or imply that products are more important than people" (Page

33).
Kilbourne’s assessment on ads creating the product to appear as though it is more important or more satisfying than human relationships, proves to me to be somewhat true. Advertisers haven’t stated otherwise, and continue to make ads telling us to "buy this and be perfect" or “get what you want with this". If the advertisers create a false hope or false sense of happiness, then more people are willing to buy the product. The advertisers disregard the outcome for those people, the effect of their product creating a dissatisfactory and self-craving worldview for the young and influence-able, because to the advertisers, it does not matter what happens to their customer’s life or what lacks, as long as they keep buying that product.