It stands on its head: Commodity fetishism, consumer activism, and the strategic use of fantasy

This essay looks at the ways in which consumer activists have grappled with the particular and peculiar nature of the commodity, first outlined by Karl Marx in Capital. Given the phantasmagoric nature of the commodity, it makes sense that consumer activists have often made fantasy the focus of their attack, employing a strategy which might be called de-fetishizing the commodity. This sort of consumer activist strategy has traditionally been employed in two ways: the Revelatory and the Restorative, revealing the ‘true history’ of the commodity and attempting to restore a non-alienated relationship between consumers and commodities. In more recent times, however, consumer activists such as Yes Men, Reverend Billy, and others have embraced a new strategy. This form of activism does not reject the fantasy element at the core of the commodity, but instead embraces it and makes it transparent: a dream that presents itself as a dream. Via a route through the commodity fetish itself, these activists have devised a means to mobilize fantasy and desire powerfully and popularly, and also ethically and effectively.