Hasta La Ideas

“Planned obsolence: the desire, on the part of the consumer, to own something a little newer, a little sooner than is necessary.”

Filmmaker Cosima Danoritzer’s documentary The Light Bulb Conspiracy will be screening in several cities across the United States starting this Saturday, October 22nd, in Miami, followed by screenings in Chicago on the 24th, New York on the 25th, Albuquerque on the 27th and Stanford on the 29th.

The synopsis:

Once upon a time… products were made to last. Then, in the 1920s, businessmen were struck by an insight: “A product that refuses to wear out is a tragedy of business!” Ever since then, manufacturers have been engineering their products to fail.

This film tells the story of Planned Obsolescence, showing how long-lasting light bulbs were suppressed by a secret cartel and how ladder-proof stockings disappeared without trace. Modern electronics come equipped with inbuilt ‘death-dates’, sending them to the landfills before their time.

But consumers have started rebelling, to save the planet and the economy…

The trailer:

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