To understand the power of work and spend, we must also recognize the extent to which consumption has come to assume a central 'psychocultural' role in western societies and Japan. In the United States, where this process has arguably gone farthest, society and culture are increasingly commercialized. Advertising and marketing encourage consumers to be dissatisfied with what they have and to covet more. Culturally, consumerism is remaking the landscape as the shopping mall takes over as the dominant public space, equivalent to the cathedrals of the medieval era. Cutting edge advertisers, especially those whose products are symbolically intense, have begun marketing an identity concept, rather than the qualities of products.
Soft drinks represent the 'new generation'.
Sneaker ads have evolved into sophisticated visions of desirable lifestyles. Perhaps more than any other activity, consumerism has become the lynchpin of modern economic, political, social and personal life.