WASHINGTON, D.C., July 13, 2006
The Dark Side Of Stuff
CBS' Meyer: More Is Less, Choice Hurts & Marketing Lies
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(CBS/AP)
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No magazine that contains 129 separate ads, as the April edition does, can simplify anything. And this is not to mention that most of the articles are simply disguised ads that recommend specific products in the context of how-to journalism.
The June cover story was "34 delicious grilling ideas." Please: 34! The article is so chock full of tips and pretty pictures, you could easily never grill again out of pure despair. Here's a real simple way to make grilling easier, and it's a brief article: steaks, chicken, ribs and chops are good on the grill but don't burn them. Does a magazine devoted to "life made easier" really need more than that?
Hell yes. And you need to get clear about this: "Exfoliation. Everything you need to know — from how to apply a facial peel to the best scrubs."
Radical Martha Stewartism is also no path to the Zen of a simple life. Yet the June edition offers a three-step program to make "the biggest bow on the block in minutes." Oh, no, must I have the biggest bow on the block? Or how about the "Aha Use" for that cute microbrewery six-pack container: "transporting condiments, silverware, napkins and picnic supplies from kitchen to patio." It would be wrong to transport utensils in a way that wasn't cute. And it would be wrong not to maximize that cute microbrewery six-pack.
Have you spent enough time on sponge selection and maintenance lately? I'm guessing not. Never fear: Real Simple offers "Super soakers: tried-and-true sponges for every job (and how to keep them at their at their germ free best)." The tips are key: "know when to reach for the paper towel" and "learn when to let go." The best one for large surfaces is the Williams-Sonoma Pop-Up Sponges, six for $10.50.
To maximize the beach experience, Real Simple tells you what "beach essentials" you need to buy. There are 16 products costing a total of $397.10.
I'll embarrassingly confess to having a real bad Real Simple moment. I randomly picked up the magazine off a table one day and was immersed in April's expose, "Clean By The Clock: Easy steps to tackle any room — no matter how much (or how little) time you have."
As I read this, I became very concerned that we didn't have the optimal clean products for the highly specialized tasks our house demands. So I folded down page corners to remind myself to get Wieman Cook Top Quick Wipes (5 for $30), a Swiffer Duster with Extendable Handle ($8 for the handle), Caldrea Linen Spray ($12) and, of course, Don Aslett Microfiber Towels — "a must for any room" ($10 for four).
When I got excited about the microfiber towels, I realized I had gone off the deep end. What did I care about any of this nonsense? Would my family be better off in any way if we used Windex instead of the recommend Oxi Miracle Foam Spray? This is diseased thinking.
We have been brainwashed into believing or acting as if the most minute consumer decisions should be both optimal and expressions of our individuality and taste. Marketers have infiltrated status, brand worship and lust for "the best" into the most trivial corners our lives. There is a Real Simple for almost everything you can imagine: computers, home entertainment technology, clothes, shoes, gardening, sports equipment, travel and, absurdly, even storage.
There is a lot wrong with identity-building through consumerism. Real Simple does this especially surreptitiously, in the name of simplicity and escape. It is a brand of false hope self-help that is really just gross materialism that further insinuates the market in to the soul. That, of course, is the great and secret ultimate conspiracy of capitalism.
On a slightly less cosmic level, making all these decisions is going to kill us. Choice overload, thanks to Barry Schwartz's terrific book, "The Paradox of Choice," is now a well-diagnosed social disease. Some choice is good; too much creates anxiety and frustration. Eight types of sponge is too much choice.
And I'm telling you this because I care about you.
Dick Meyer is the editorial director of CBSNews.com.
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By Dick Meyer
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Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
