The Consequences of Commercialism in Brazil

The commercials in Brazil are very based on the consumption of certain products that have a big value in the world market. Brazil has recently become an industrialized country where people start to consume more and even in these days, who belong to the minority richer than ever. The number of billionaires in Brazil grew from 18 in 2005 to 30 in 2010. Responsible for this are big companies and commercialism.

Because of the big amount of money in the hand of the population Brazil is developing to a country where buying something is no more a problem of money. People are getting practically purchasing parity, but due to the inflation Brazilians are paying more for their products.

"Inflation, measured by the change in the Broad National

Consumer Price Index (IPCA), after reaching 4.31% in 2009,

moved to 5.91% in 2010. In the first five months of 2011,

the IPCA index increased by 3.71%, 0.62 percentage points

(p.p.) higher than in 2010. Thus, the twelve-month inflation

reached 6.55% in May."
http://www.bcb.gov.br/htms/relinf/ing/2011/06/ri201106c6i.pdf

Commercials in newspaper, television, radio and magazines brainwash those who are creating their own life, who are just beginning to save an amount of money to buy for example their first apartment. The commercials encourage people to buy things like cars, shoes, watches and accessory , even if they don't need in real.

Because of the big and increasing difference between rich and poor, wealth has got a different meaning for the Brazilian population. Being rich is a status, that has to be preserved, otherwise you don't belong to the “high-society”. In this way have served to dictate, what Brazilians should buy to enable good living conditions, like in the high industrialized countries.

Due to the high taxes which are to be paid if a credit is needed (on Brazil 12% per month), many Brazilians can't even afford to borrow money from the bank to buy their own houses. Imagine if people would borrow a lot of money to buy a car that costs over 54'000 R$ (24'247 US$) with all the difficulties of the high cost of living. An average earner would have to work 45 years to buy this car. Imagine of people would lack the payment of the bills to buy accessory worth between 50 and 500 R$ (32-325 US$). Brazilians would have to live under the bridge, just to have a LCD television.

Why do Brazilians do all these things? Why do they spend much money on imported cars if they would know that this car would be stolen after a few day and also know that this car will lose its value through the possession of the car?

The answer is the consume society, that don't accept someone who doesn't have the latest car, who cant afford a shirt of Villa Romana and who simply cant afford to throw money out of the window.

Which importance has this society for the population? Why do so many people rely on this? The reason for these all is the dream of affording something special; it's similar to the “American Dream”, a fairytale in the middle age, as a good night story for the children.

Commercialism

"Commercialism, in its original meaning, is the practices, methods, aims, and spirit of commerce or business. Today, however, it primarily refers to the tendency within open-market capitalism to turn everything into objects, images, and services sold for the purpose of generating profit. There is also a tendency for intangible things such as happiness, beauty, or health to be given a monetary value (monetization) and to be spoken of as commodities."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercialism

In today´s society consumption of certain products plays an very important role. Especially people try to seduce you with certain products you don't need.

The western society shows you what you have to do. You have to buy ”special” products from specific brands. Or else you will lose your reputation. In this way a lot of people make a financial mismanagement or buy a lot of things they don't need. It may take you a lot of time to understand the situation but you have to acknowledge that this kind of pressure can mislead your way of living.

Of course you could argue with, that very rich people can afford everything. This is obviously true but certainly the commercials are addressed to the middle class. And if you buy these things to which you get seduced, although you don't really need them, you can finally destabilize your living style. For instance if you buy some luxury items like cars and other designer items you will lose in a small amount of time a lot of money because the products lose their value.

So we have to be sure about your financial situation. However not everyone is buying these things only because he can afford them, but also many buy them with the help of a credit. In this case you have to consider financial issues. Most of people who get influenced by these commercials are certainly not the rich people, who have enough money. And these who don't have enough money want to gain in this way certain reputation. Even so you should not waste your money with items you don't necessarily need and spend your money wisely.

Eventually consumerism rules the western society and most of the people don't realize it.