A Critique of the Advertising Consumer as “Target”: Addressing Advertising’s Reective Audience

A swift digital download of advertising industry talk exhibits the metaphor of “targeting” as dominant. “Targeting consumers in all the right places.” “ Targeting consumers where they spend time.” “Attitude replaces age for targeting consumers.”1 Consumers are presented here as passive recipients of stimuli, prodded, pushed, penetrated, or worse with objectifying, reifying zeal.