Week 10: The Toll Disguised as a Reward
The loyalty card read through Baudrillard's simulacrum, as a fee paid in data rather than currency
26 April 2027
The card’s “reward” simulates gratitude while performing surveillance, and the two are no longer distinguishable to the shopper holding it. A discount is the price the store pays you to consent to being tracked — a very good deal, for the store.
Outline#
- simulacrum: the reward that replaces the relation it imitates
- what a loyalty sign-up form actually asks for, versus what it needs
- mapping a year of one shopper’s data
Teaching team
- Idris Fenn — tutor