George Saunders - American Psyche

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/may/24/healthandwellbeing

Saunders has written several articles for the ‘American Pysche’ series in the Guardian about the influence of advertising in America. The articles are very cynical about the images portrayed in order to endorse products – I particularly like his comments in this article on the advert for anti cellulite cream featuring ‘four wafer-thin women with no cellulite on their celery-thin legs’ and that these women had quite clearly never had cellulite. A phone call to the company confirmed that this was true, two had never heard of cellulite and another thought it was a new form of food sealing technology.
The article backs up some of the aspects of My Flamboyant Grandson in that it perpetuates the idea of the bombardment of Americans with advertising. He is commenting on the pressure that Americans feel to have the next big thing in order to be happy. There is also the cynicism about the extent that advertisers will go to in order to push these products.