Gary,
Adorno stressed that one of the essential characteristics of the culture industry is repetition.Those Workchoice adverts are so repetitive they turn me off. No independent thinking is expected from the mass consumption TV audience.

This kind of example shows that the common view that Adorno’s critique of culture industry is an elitist rejection of popular culture is a mistaken one.There is a frequent tendency to bash and dismiss Adorno without further ado in cultural studies

Pam,
yes,along with the repetition we have standardization and interchangeability of the Workchoice advert as a cultural product.

Then we have the manipulative power of the cultural industry in terms of mas deception about "workchoices". They are a means designed to ensuring the audience's "adjustment" to the new neoliberal order wiht its reduced work conditions and pay for the least powerful and educated workers.

It's an interesting question. Their own research must have told them by now that the ads aren't working, yet they persist. Why?

Buckets of public money are being transfered to culture industries, but in the process it's being transfered out of the coffers we can reasonably expect Labor to inherit.

Lyn, I believe they continue to drip feed the media with this money as a way of retaining their favor. It appears an odd mix of love and hate. I liken it to the mother feeding the bird that squawks the loudest the most.

Lyn,
the psychologists were puzzled as to why the government persists in the adverts even though they are not working.

That's all they can do? Persist with the repetition.

Gary,

It's so self-defeating that you're left wondering whether there's some purpose other than the ones purported in the messages, like Les' suggestion.

Maybe the problem lies in our expectation that leaders and advertising people are somehow smarter than the rest of us. Maybe we are seeing the best that they can do. That's a pretty scary thought.