Does a Chocolate Bar have a Self of its Own and What might Wittgenstein Say of this? (4)

This is the caption of the advert for the Gone Mad chocolates. It says “I’m the New Craze. Try Me”. How would this caption sound if it assumes a third person narrative and says “This is the New Craze. Try it.” Well, it perfectly get across the same meaning, though the sense, the feeling and the impact might be different with the first person “I”. Let us look at this closely.

First to take note of is the anthropomorphising of the chocolate. The chocolate becomes an object of desire because of the subjectivity it derives with anthropomorphization. In fact with the term “craze” it almost takes on a feminine voice. The captions becomes sleazy and tempting; it is also the signifier of crazy world of the counter-culturalists. When you say “It is the New Craze” it is not so inviting a claim, since it is an objective attribute. But, again, like a human subject the chocolate here is caught between its body and its delusional selfhood.

 How does it know that it is the new craze among the chocolate connoisseurs, since it can turn into a craze only when it is consumed. If it is consumed it disappears, it does not last to be a craze, right? No, it won’t. 

Because one could only consume the craziness of the chocoloate-hood not the body of the chocolate. The chocolate selfhood, though realised and substituted by the body, is not to be defined by its “appearance”. As one eats the chocolate, the company would produce more and more of them and the “craze” never dies - in fact it proliferates itself with the increasing desire of the consumer. So it could bravely invite the consumer to “try” it, that is to eat it, since it won’t come to an end. The craze is a boundless domain of excitement, elation and deliciousness, once it takes on a subjecthood with the first-person “I”. The “I” turns itself indestructible since it is a delusion; as you try to taste it it transfers itself to the body only for you to realize the real craze has flown away as you were relishing it in your memory, signified by the language constructs of “craze” and “try me”.

 Now you buy another one and then one more until you feel sick but never satiated. That is the condition of the post-structural consumerism - the craze of eating is “not in the pudding”.

Reference:

Nandhikkara, Jose. Being Human: After Wittgenstein - A Philosophical Anthropology, Vol. I. “The ‘I’: A Living Human Being”. 81-101. Bangalore: Dharmaram Publications, 2011. Print.

Adytude. “Top 11 Chocolate Ads for World Chocolate Day 2019!”. YouTube. Published on 1 July 2019.

Cool Mr. Hari. “5Star Ads 2011-2018”. YouTube. Published on 22 Jan 2018.

Collection funny. “The best advertisement ideas of Japp in the World”. YouTube. Published on 16 Dec 2015.