This was a monthly column that ran in Socialist Review magazine during 2006/7.

The Overall Sale Experience
March 2006
Anyone entering the Selfridges store in London for their new year sale in January may have wondered if the store wasn’t doing its best to put off potential customers.

The New McCarthyism
April 2006
On the morning of 21 May 2004, artist Steven Kurtz awoke to find his wife Hope lying dead beside him.

Reality.net
May 2006
Making visible the invisible is a key concept in Marxist and modernist aesthetics.

Nike Loses Ground from Hackney to Vienna
June 2006
It’s unusual for Hackney’s New Labour council to come over all anti-capitalist. But wonders never cease. The council has threatened Nike with legal action after the sportswear giant produced a range of kit and equipment bearing an exact replica of the council’s logo, without seeking permission.

Time for a Commercial Break?
July 2006
Have you found that while waiting for the 73 bus you hear voices?

Don’t Go, Don’t Rush, Don’t Spend
September 2006
Cesky Sen (Czech Dream) is a film that documents the largest consumer hoax the Czech Republic has ever seen.

Here and Now
October 2006
Sometimes when advertisers stop attempting to sell us that brand of toilet paper or this brand of baked beans and apply their creative energies to a more needy and worthwhile cause they can produce stunning pieces of visual communication.

Urban Inspiration
November 2006
“The rich may have to live in gated communities while the poor roam the world outside those few enclaves,” said Branko Milanovic from the Development Research Group at the World Bank in 2002. Taking a visit to any major city in Britain will show you this process in action.

Identikit Hot
December 2006
Ever wondered why you’re looking at the same woman in every magazine?

Torture Couture
January 2007
Post-9/11, there’s a trend towards combining torture and pornography.
NB: This article should have been referenced in this essay and wasn’t by mistake apologies to the author