In the laboratories of desire. Advertising as an intermediary between products and consumers

Abstract

Summary: What makes us desire objects? In the attempt to find a practical answer to this fundamental question on the subject and object of desire, the authors consider the organization of work in advertising agencies. They identify three procedures which together constitute advertisers' solution to the problem of communication between the product and the market. The to and fro movement which makes one attribute desire to either the object or the subject, is replaced by a series of intermediary screens on which the two components of the supply /demand equation are constantly refashioned.