Postmodernism’s fundamental questioning of fixed meaning has significantly reshaped my understanding of even commonplace consumer objects. Lyotard’s concept of an "incredulity toward metanarratives" (Lyotard xxiv) became evident during our Vicks inhaler ad project. This seemingly ordinary product, revealed itself as a capitalist symbol promising "relief" through menthol and strategic marketing. We employed postmodern strategies to expose this, glitching visuals mimicking corrupted data, pixelated representations of reality, and ransom-note typography assembled from disparate magazine fragments. The resulting design was a Baudrillardian simulacrum (Baudrillard 2). An ad critiquing ads, where the product’s supposed "purity" intentionally dissolved into absurdity.

Nietzsche’s assertion that "truths are metaphors we’ve forgotten are metaphors" ("On Truth and Lies" 84) provided a crucial framework for our critique. The inhaler’s branding, nature (menthol) strategically repackaged as consumer salvation, mirrored Haraway’s cyborg theory, where the boundaries between the organic and the industrial become blurred (Haraway 149). Our design amplified this inherent tension: comic book 'BOOM' were juxtaposed with the corporate blue of the packaging and background, compelling viewers to question: Is the feeling of relief a genuine sensation or a carefully manufactured product of persuasive imagery?

This resonates with Richard Prince, who rephotographed advertisements to deconstruct corporate fabrications. His work, His Untitled (Cowboy) (1989) ask: who ultimately benefits from this constructed narrative? Similarly, our advertisement for the Vicks inhaler "hijacked" it's comforting imagery to prompt the question: who profits from selling us the very act of breathing? Prince’s work, like ours, engages with consumerism not through outright rejection, but through a critical exposure of its underlying contradictions.

Total Word Count: 256 Words

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Works Cited

Baudrillard, Jean. Simulacra and Simulation. U of Michigan P, 1994.

Haraway, Donna. Simians, Cyborgs, and Women. Routledge, 1991.

Lyotard, Jean-François. The Postmodern Condition. U of Minnesota P, 1984.

Nietzsche, Friedrich. “On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense.” Philosophy and Truth, 1979, pp. 79–97.

Prince, Richard. Cowboys. Museum of Modern Art, 2007.

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"Untitled (Cowboy)" (1989)

"New Portraits (Instagram Paintings)" (2014-2015)