Watch Modern Times: Advertising What It's Doing to Your Life Documentary

As a society, we tend to take advertising for granted, failing to see just how much it influences our daily lives. From the moment we wake up to the moment we go to bed, we are bombarded by advertisements, each of them competing for our attention, our time, and ultimately, our money. In Modern Times: Advertising What It's Doing to Your Life, a compelling new documentary, explores the ways that advertising has shaped our world and how it continues to impact our collective lives in ways that are often invisible, insidious, and damaging.

Directed by noted documentary filmmaker, Erica O'Brien, Modern Times is a powerful and thought-provoking exploration of the advertising industry and its role in shaping our culture, our economy, and our very identities. O'Brien takes us on a journey through the history of advertising, from its early days as a simple means of conveying information to its present-day form as a complex and sophisticated tool for shaping consumer behavior.

Throughout the film, O'Brien speaks to a wide range of experts, from advertising executives and consumer advocates to economists and sociologists, offering a nuanced and varied perspective on the ways that advertising affects our lives in both positive and negative ways. We learn how advertising has been used to create a world where our desires are constantly being stimulated, and our needs are often ignored. We see how it has been used to create artificial wants, drive overconsumption, and fuel the environmental crisis.

At the heart of Modern Times is a penetrating critique of the way that advertising has shaped our very sense of self. We learn how it has played a central role in creating a culture of narcissism, where our self-worth is defined by what we buy and how we look. O'Brien asks hard questions about the impact of this culture on our mental health, our relationships, and our ability to empathize with others.

One of the most striking things about Modern Times is its focus on the role of technology in modern advertising. O'Brien examines how the rise of the internet and social media has transformed the advertising landscape, making it more pervasive and difficult to escape. We learn how companies like Google and Facebook have amassed vast amounts of data on our online behavior and how this data is used to target us with highly personalized and often manipulative ads.

Throughout the film, O'Brien never shies away from the tough questions. She asks what responsibility the advertising industry has for the social and ecological crises of our time. She examines the role of advertising in perpetuating racism, sexism, and other forms of bigotry. And she explores the possibility of a world without advertising, one where our desires are shaped by something other than corporate interests.

Although Modern Times is a sobering and at times bleak portrait of the advertising industry, it is also a hopeful one. Throughout the film, we see examples of people and organizations pushing back against the power of advertising and advocating for a more just and sustainable future. From grassroots consumer movements to innovative design solutions, there are signs that change is possible.

Overall, Modern Times is a documentary that will challenge the way you think about advertising and its role in our lives. It is a powerful reminder that we have the power to shape the world we live in, and that advertising is just one piece of a much larger puzzle. Whether you are an advertising executive, a consumer advocate, or simply someone interested in the social and environmental challenges of our time, this documentary is not to be missed. So, if you want to know the reality of the advertising industry and how it's affecting your life, you should definitely watch this documentary.