Pink's contrasting observations from the middle class in the present day and the middle class from the 70's reveal that Americans abundance of material goods has "..brought beautiful things to our lives but..has not necessarily made us happier" and he encourages us to change our abundant and unnecessary ways and seek value in life.
Pink took observation of a toilet brush that he had recently purchased at Target. This particular toilet brush was designed by one of the most renowned product designers in the world. A toilet brush that was endorsed by an expert! Expert designers obviously play a big role in the sell of products. "Only against a backdrop of abundance could so many people seek beautiful toilet brushes," was a statement that Pink put in his observation. The designs of the product also play a big role in the success of the sell of a product. If the product does not look good, a person will not buy it. The cost of Pink's new toilet brush was $5.99. In the 70's a person from the middle class would not buy that product because it was too costly. The cost and function of a product were the only two factors to buying a product in the past, now, along with functioning correctly, the product has to look good and have some kind of expert endorsement to be successfully sold. Pink's overall conclusion of the toilet brush observation from present-day Americans was that "if things are not pleasing to the eye...few will buy them," even with all of the work engineering that goes into making the product work sufficiently.
"Abundance has brought beautiful things to our lives, but that bevy of material goods has not necessarily made us happier," was a comment that Pink made that stuck out to me. I have always thought if I had the most expensive designer products that I would be happier. Pink helped me to realize that I am very wrong. He said that when he is on his deathbed he doubts that he would look back on his life and say, "Well, I've made some mistakes. But at least I snagged one of those Michael Graves toilet brushes..." The toilet brush may have excited him when he first purchased it and saw that it was designer and it looked good...but it did not make him overall happier. Also when he went shopping with his family in the 70's when he was younger, he was just as happy with the small selection of clothes that all middle class people wore as he is now when he goes shopping with his family as an adult many years later and has a much bigger selection of designer clothes that the middle class wears. "Living standards have risen...personal, family, and life satisfaction haven't budged," is a statement that Pink used to try to persuade people to change and to seek value in life. The toilet brush example and the clothing example that Pink used in his argument have helped me realize that I do not have to always use name brand products that have no value, but that I am happy without designer things.
In conclusion, Pink tries to get Americans to realize that there are better things in life that designer goods and that we need to change our abundant ways to be happy because money can't buy happiness.
