1. Burger King launched a marketing campaign in Belgium asking people to vote for either the Burger King brand or King Phillipe as the ruler of Belgium, mocking the Belgian monarchy. 2. The Belgian Royal Family was offended by Burger King trivializing and using the King's image for commercial purposes. 3. The campaign shows how global capitalism and consumerism can undermine cultural and social norms through dominance of commercial culture on a global scale.

1. Presented by –
Mudit dewan
&
Karan Chawla
sumerism?
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tensified throughout
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sk for most people in
umerism, two major
ncluded:
ism

2. The Age of Imperialism
The Age of Imperialism, a time period beginning around 1760, saw European industrializing nations,
engaging in the process of colonizing, influencing, and annexing other parts of the world.

3. This process fed the European nations with huge amounts of raw materials from all over the world and helped
increase the rate of consumerism in several ways.
The Age of Imperialism

4. This process fed the European nations with huge amounts of raw materials from all over the world and helped
increase the rate of consumerism in several ways.
1. The raw materials fed the industrial factories in Europe and were used to create countless numbers of consumer
goods that were then distributed throughout the world.
2. The vast colonies allowed the European nations access to large markets of people in which they could then sell
their products.
For example, several of the European nations established sugar or tobacco plantations throughout the New
World. These sugar and tobacco plantations then produced sugar and tobacco (often with slaves from the Atlantic
slave trade) for transport back to Europe, where the resources would be used to produce other products. The
products would then be sold around the world in the many colonies controlled by the European nations, as well as
in Europe itself.
How it effected rate of consumerism?

5. Industrial Revolution
• The Industrial Revolution also played a major role in the
spread of consumerism. It first began in the 1700s in
England and soon spread to many other countries in
Europe and North America.
• At its heart, industrialization centered on the use of
capitalist economic policies that led to the emergence of
many different factories and mines. As a result of the
economic freedom of the time period, these factories
were able to produce countless number of inventions and
products on a mass-scale.

6. • Before the start of the Industrial Revolution, goods were
produced in a system referred to as the ‘cottage industry’. This
means that the goods were created on a small scale often in
people’s homes.
• As a result of this method, goods were often unique in nature
and were not produced in large numbers. The Industrial
Revolution fundamentally changed this and instead caused
factories to be located in cities and towns where goods could
instead be produced on a mass scale.
• This abundance of new and cheap goods meant that there were many different and affordable
products for people to buy. This led to consumerism because it created the system in which people
could reasonably afford a variety of goods.
Industrial Revolution

7. • Consumerism further developed in the 20th century. For example,
some people consider the 1950s and 1960s as the ‘golden age of
consumerism’. During this time period, goods became much less
expensive and some products were able to sell on a very large scale
due to effective marketing campaigns. In general, marketing refers to
the advertisements that companies produce to sell their products to a
large audience. Marketing had always been a popular method of
selling a good but the marketing campaigns of the 20th century
became much more sophisticated. For example, many of these
campaigns promoted a sense of identity in relation to their products
and caused people to associate their social standing in society with
their level and quality of consumption. This caused an explosion in
modern consumption rates, as marketing is still an important
consumerist tool in the 21st century.
Further Development
• Another important aspect of consumerism in recent years has been the concept of outsourcing. Companies do
this to lower the overall cost of wages when developing a product because workers in countries like China and
Mexico will work for much smaller wages than similar workers in the United States and Canada.

8. Presented by –
Mudit dewan & Karan Chawla
What is Consumerism?
• Consumerism is the idea that increasing the consumption of goods
and services purchased in the market is always a desirable goal.
• Consumerism is the theory that Individuals who consume goods
and services in large quantities will
be better off.
• Consumerism is generally associated
with the economic system of
capitalism.
• Consumerism as an ideology
emerged alongside capitalism and
spread throughout Europe, North
America and the rest of the world
as capitalism became the dominant
economic system on the planet
Origin
The modern concept of consumerism is best understood to have begun in the
late 1600s in Europe. From that point, consumerism intensified throughout
the 1700s and 1800s and became a major societal phenomenon in which the
consumption of products became a vitally important task for most people in
society.
During the early years of the development of consumerism, two major
historical events came to play an important role, which included:
1. Industrial Revolution 2. The Age of Imperialism
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9. 1. Fairness: Establishing fairness as a decision-making principle means
companies commit to fair prices, better wages, and sustainable
development.
2. Honesty: A cornerstone of ethical behaviour is honesty. Honest
companies use marketing communications to provide factual and
unexaggerated information about the functionality and impact of their
products and services; they advertise without attempting to mislead.
3. Responsibility: Businesses may emphasize their responsibility in
several ways, including their obligation to provide a reliable product or
service, support social causes, give back to communities, treat their
employees with respect, or protect the environment through sustainable
practices.
4. Transparency: In business, transparency means being open to the
public about your company’s operations, particularly the ethical way
you treat employees and the sustainability and environmental impact of
your products or services.

10. 𝓦𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓭𝓸 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓴…..
❞𝓘𝓼 𝓒𝓸𝓷𝓼𝓾𝓶𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓼𝓶 𝓑𝓪𝓭 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓢𝓸𝓬𝓲𝓮𝓽𝔂❓❞, 𝓙𝓾𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓯
𝔂 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓪𝓷𝓼𝔀𝓮𝓻.
A Question For You

11. Case Study - 1
Overview
Mockery of the
Monarchy
Ending
Capitalism and the
commodification of
culture
By Nilanjana Goswami
“Two Kings. One Crown”: A case
study on consumerism
V/S

12. Overview:
The Belgian Royal Family claim to have faced due to an advertisement campaign led by the fast-
food giant, Burger King. The U.S.-based chain is going to launch its brand in Belgium next
month, and has accordingly prepared an advertising campaign asking Belgians to vote online to
“crown” the true ruler of Belgium. The candidates were the brand itself, and King Phillipe
Leopold Ludwig Maria, the 7th sovereign of Belgium. The poll, conducted on an online
platform, notes King Phillipe’s coronation in 2013 and opens with the words “Two Kings. One
Crown. Who will rule? Vote now”. One has to choose between the Burger King logo and
a cartonized version of the monarch. If one votes in favor of the 57-year-old monarch, he/she is
asked 3 questions, like “Are you sure? He won’t cook you fries” and so on. With every
successive question, the “Yes” button is either diminished in size or moved to a corner, while if
one votes for the brand, the vote is accepted at once, without any ensuing questions.

13. Mockery of the Monarchy:
This has run afoul of the Royal Family of Belgium who, as their spokesperson has emphasised,
do not wish to lend their image, cartonised or otherwise, to any commercial venture. Despite the
reasons proffered by the offended party, it is easy to infer that Burger King’s spoof-poll has been
considered an affront to the very dignity of the Royal Family itself and the sovereignty it holds.
It could also be argued that Burger King is playing on echoes of sentiments debated in the
Belgian Referendum of 1950. Famously called the Royal Question, the referendum was
conducted in order to determine whether monarchy should be abolished. This event took place in
light of the authoritarian policies of King Leopold III (King Phillipe’s grandfather) that had
allegedly gone against the provisions of the Belgian Constitution and had created a rift between
the King and his government during the Nazi Occupation. Massive protests came in the wake of
his eventual reinstitution, and he eventually abdicated the throne in favor of his son Baudouin.

14. Capitalism and the commodification of culture:
The situation isn’t that of a capitalistic venture trivializing an issue. This is dominance through soft
power. The perpetrators seem to have absolutely no qualms with turning all forms of authority and
nobility into a farce that makes sense only to loyal consumers.
The U.S., by virtue of its superpower status, is the single-most powerful socio-political arena that is
capable of churning out a commercial culture that affects the needs, wants and goals of a global
audience. Every other day, a new brand appears in increasingly remote locations, peddling fast-food or
soft drinks. Soon, the world demands what America demands.
Along with amplifying the outreach of this effective brand of hegemony, this has also given its
participants cause to question and gradually undermine ethnic, social and cultural norms (or authority)
that don’t fall in with their new capitalistic, consumerist aspirations. Consumerism invests heavily in
moments, impulses and images that are as ephemeral as a camera-flash. These moments seem to
cultivate some profound meaning but they are stripped of it if taken out of the capitalistic framework.

15. Ending:
A decade ago, such questionable representations could have been received as parodies. Now, with so
much debate about mainstream culture on a daily basis, people are becoming increasingly intolerant of
anyone refusing to abide by social norms. This tussle in Belgium, that looks apparently harmless on the
surface, is indicative of the rise and rise of global capitalism. If left unchecked, this will definitely gain
traction that will lead to the undermining of the cultural spirit of any endeavor that doesn’t subscribe to,
or isn’t endorsed by, consumer-culture. As can be seen in this instance, it isn’t the citizens of Belgium,
but participants of this very culture who have voted. And if this socioeconomic mechanism has the
capability to make us suspend our cultural identities with just one vote, maybe it is high time we begin
to stand clear of the dominos before they start to fall.