Commodity Fetishism

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I’m your favorite. But why? Is it because my price is less than my competitors? Probably not, every store sells similar products at an equal price. Do you have a personal relationship with the producer so that you know he has the best skills in creating my product? Highly doubtful , my first producer has been dead since 1888. Or maybe you see value in me because of the time and labor it takes to create me. But That cannot be the case either. The shelves are restocked with me at an accelerated rate . So where does your loyalty come from? I know. It is your commodity fetish. You are not buying me as the product anymore. You are buying the value that i s weaved into each bottle. Peace. Love. Hope. Patriotism. Family. Creativity. Tradition. These are not included in the original recipe. T hey are not the secret ingredients. But this is what you pay for. These are the social values you want. The values you get with every sip. Life is better with a Coke. Do you buy that? Bet you do.

How does it work?: 

How does it work? Commodity fetishism empties the product of its original meaning and then weaves social values and relations into the new meaning. Then, advertising fills up the rest of the commodity. Can you find the fetishes that have been weaved into Coke with the following ads?

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Compassion… I see… Safety… Love… a nd Coke!

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I see… Success… Confidence… Leisure… a nd Coke!

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I see… Imagination… Creativity… Environment Friendly… a nd Coke!

What does it mean?: 

What does it mean? These values (love, imagination, success, etc.) are desires we all have. Through its advertisements, Coke has integrated these values into its product. If we want love, imagination, success and if commodity fetishism works like Marx says it does, that means we want Coke.

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What values do they hold for you? Think about the products that you buy and use. Why do you like them? Do you have a fetish ?