150). Other astronomical amounts of money have been spent on certain advertising campaigns. Forty-two million dollars were spent for cigarette advertising in 1949 and 29 million dollars was allotted to the advertising of alcoholic beverages (Galbraith2 97). Advertisings goal was to create a nation of robot consumers (Frank 41). The spark which churns production is the consumers desire, therefore, advertising is pertinent to the continuation of production. Television becomes the main vehicle for advertising. Televisions stormed the American market. In 1946 only 6,000 TVs were produced. By 1960 90% of Americans owned a television (French 189). With such a remarkable acceptance, TV influenced American society in mass numbers. Advertising on television was a sure way to reach the public. Evidence that TV influenced the American consumer lies in the fact that the number of people that went to the movies dropped drastically. By 1950 only 60 million viewers went to the movies a week compared to that of 1948s 90 million. People were staying at home watching situated comedies and other programs. The average time that people spent watching TV a day was five hours in 1956. A typical 1950s advertisement read More appliances make moms work easier (Norton 838). It is accurate to say that TV told consumers what to purchase (Norton 838). The automobile industry also contributed to American consumerism. With the movement to the suburbs and the creation of highways, cars became common. Consumption of automobiles showed the largest rise in consumer spending: New car sales increased from 2.1 million in 1946 to 7.9 million in 1955 . . . (French 189). The blossoming car industry also supported petroleum and other car-related industries. The auto industry purposely constructed less durable cars so that consumers would have to buy a new car more frequently. This was call planned obsolescence (Norton 832). The automobile represented the Ame...
