Media used to reinforce values

Is media devoid of real value?

I started a blog exploring how pop culture media supports Frankfurt School ideas about the "Culture Industry" and its negative influence on society. Often, media perpetuates habits like smoking and alcohol use, or promotes minority and controversial lifestyles as if they’re normal, common, appealing, and “everyone is doing it.”  That results in society (especially our youth) jumping on the bandwagon messaging, wanting to fit in and be “like everyone else.”  I can just imagine the uproar if polygamy (practiced by 2-5% of the global population) was advertised, promoted, and blasted from every movie, TV show, and ad like homosexuality is (which is practiced by 3-7% of the global population). 

However, instead of delving into these political debates with fervor, I decided to focus on the positive aspects of media that challenge Adorno and Horkhiemers perceptions that pop culture is superficial and devoid of any real value. Although few and far between in American culture, here are a few international commercials that show pop culture isn’t all about consumerism and promoting political or social agendas.  This one made me cry. It’s about things that money can’t buy and recognition won’t fulfill:

I had seen this before when searching for good commercials, and it still made me cry watching it a second time. It tells a message that caring about others and that bearing one another's burdens has its own, often unseen, reward:

 

These feel-good commercials also contradict Adorno and Horkhiemers argument that pop culture is not driven by public needs and wants - because humans WANT emotional connection, we NEED to believe there’s good in the world, we WANT to believe the good we cast  upon the water will return one day, etc.  These companies are paying for lengthy “air” time to teach a valuable and moral message, which endears them to consumers while also enshrining core values and principles that gives a society meaning and purpose.

These messages also support Fiske’s critique that the culture industry should be evaluated for it’s academic merit because it is actively reshaped and given meaning by audiences and is used as a tool to make sense of our lives and challenge dominant ideologies, such as the need to accumulate more, have a fancier phone, nicer car, bigger home, etc.  

What is something you have seen in media and pop culture that was used in a way to support values over profit?  Can they do both in a meaningful way without being accused of “playing on people’s emotions” for profit? Do you think this method is effective? Why or why not?

References: 

Adorno, T. W., & Horkheimer, M. (2002). The culture industry: Enlightenment as mass deception. In P. W. Hohendahl (Ed.), Critical theory in the age of globalization (pp. 97–109). Routledge.

Storey, J. (2015). Cultural theory and popular culture: An introduction (5th ed., pp. 62–70). University of Sunderland.