ABSTRACT

This chapter considers the cultural consequences of advertising’s twenty-first-century expansion. The chapter begins by examining the advertising industry’s social construction of the “millennial,” an audience that is said to be nearly impossible to reach and yet is the most branded generation in history. The chapter then turns to a critical examination of trends associated with the millennial marketplace, including cause-related marketing and ethical brands, brand communities, branded selves, and the overall condition of a promotional culture. This chapter concludes by reassessing themes such as satisfaction, status competition, and commodity fetishism, and contextualizes present-day consumer culture in a much longer history.