Commodity Fetishism

 Commodity fetishism is one of Marx’s most consistently enduring ideas, and it is surprisingly accessible. Commodity fetishism is the condition in which production is no longer seen as a social endeavour but as the simple exchange of money and commodities. Under commodity fetishism, commodities themselves compete with each other, and commodity fetishism ends up transforming the entire social order or “the world.” Commodity fetishism ends up obfuscating the true relationship of humans to production and of the capitalist to the worker. (NYU Edu)

Once a good is produced and enters the market, the monetary value that is ascribed to the product works to sever its ties from the production process. Potential buyers no longer equate the product with the work that was put into it. Instead, its value comes from its price tag. The consumer, in turn, sees only one glowing perspective of the product, while a veil is cast over the hard, sometimes dreary, labour that is put into it.

 For example, they see the lunacy of treating gold and silver as having inherent value, other than the value people give them. Similarly, capital has no value other than what people give it through their labour.

Nike uses Empowerment and freedom as its inherent value. LikNike because it empowers underdogs in the social ladder - dynamic aspect of both race and gender are used in the above ad. We must recognise, since the 1970s, Nike, Inc. has been accused of using sweatshops to produce footwear and apparel. It was built on the business model of finding the lowest cost of labour possible which led to child labour and exploitation. This includes countries in Asia and Africa, including India.

This is an excellent example of commodity fetishism. The face value of the product and its production process including labour is detached from the product. This obscuring results in alienating consumers from the workers who worked for the product. Also, workers themselves are alienated from the products they produce. An Indonesian sweatshop worker who works for Zara could never afford a Zara good.

Meanwhile, a consumer can indulge in consumption without ever having to consider workers plight. This separation of production and consumption facilitates commodity fetishism. 

This will not be complete without saying about Society of Spectacle. A brainwashing methodology formulated by Edward Barneys (Also referred to as the father of Public Relations) to influence the subconscious of the target consumers.