“a monstrous, infinitely plastic entity, capable of metabolising and absorbing anything with which it comes into contact.”
– Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism
Not only is the witticism ‘we are we what we eat’ true; we eat what we think and we think what we smell, breathe, read, see and hear.
Consumerism is usually explained and justified as a economic order (an ideology) that ultimately benefits the consumer. It is closely related to ideas about freedom. The bombardment of neon signs, billboards and LED screens of the cities of capitalism are the immediate visible signs of 'The Free World'1. Publicity, marketing and branding, it is thought, offers a free choice to the discerning consumer.