Advertising and the End of the World (1998) User Reviews

must see advertising and the end of the world

[roflol-474-25807 · 10/10 · 9 March 2013]

With the exception of a few of Michael Moore's films, this is the best doc that you'll ever see. You SHOULD know about this. Jhally may be a talking head but it's a head worth listening to. He explores media, in particular advertising, and identifies it for the blight that it is ; not just on America but on the world entire.

Advertisers will not want this film to gain wide viewing because it opens the eyes of the average consumer to such a degree that you will not just fast forward or mute all advertisements, you will actually rise up against them for the bloodless monsters that they are.

Jhally is a first rate media scholar. Please consider that there may be advertisers out there who are actively seeking to suppress this important film so that may account for any negative reviews.

At first blush this may appear as a conspiracy theory but it is not. The facts are in and advertising is destroying America from within. They must be stopped or it will indeed result in the end of the world as advertised.

Interesting if you're into talking heads

[Tonyboy · 6/10 · 18 June 2003]

"Advertising and the End of the World" is a really interesting documentary, but unfortunately, it also stands as an example of why many people prefer to commit ideas like the ones in this movie to other media. For example, this movie was shown in a sociology class I took, and despite the ideas presented in the documentary, it was clear that there were too many "talking head" shots and not enough visuals.

It's too bad, really, because other filmmakers such as Mark Achbar and Peter Wintonick have managed to make Noam Chomsky (the ultimate talking head) appear as though he was on MTV while preserving the cogency of his ideas (cf: "Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media"). I had high hopes for this documentary as well, but was ultimately disappointed by what could have been, especially given the breadth of the topic and the plethora of rich visual examples available.

it was difficult to stay awake

[onelifelive07 · 2/10 · 20 November 2007]

The information in the movie was great, and i agree with a lot of what is said... but it was presented in such a boring way that i had trouble staying awake!!! It is unfortunate, but i was first introduced to this movie in my sociology class at night. I am sure that under different circumstances i would have gotten more out of it... but now i have to write a paper on it and i am no to sure what the movie was really about. I was to busy trying not to fall asleep on my desk. I don't want to bash this movie too much, its got a lot of really good info in it, and i think a lot of people should watch it. It's just that it is one of those, in your garage with a white sheet behind you, talking at the camera thing, with brief intervals of commercials from 15 years ago. Maybe I'm being to harsh, but either way i thought it could have been better.