Emile Zola’s department store novel, The Ladies’ Paradise, studies the inner workings of a retail business. Store managers like the fictional Octave Mouret, based on astute business strategies, use symmetrical composition and lively colors to help embellish their products. The nineteenth-century painting by Felix Valloton, on the cover of our edition of the novel, helps envision the set-up of his store. With a broad array of vibrant colors, it becomes difficult to look away and not be enticed by the items.

Still today, companies all over the world use the customer’s visual attraction to help their items on sale look more appealing. In this picture, taken in ShopRite, one can see all the different shades of color that fill up just one aisle. The lights hanging from the ceiling help each product bring out its own unique color. The bright red and blue cotton candy not only makes the image pop, but also captures the attention of anyone walking by. However, this abundance of colors can be deceiving. Often, people become so enamored with the outside packaging that they lose sight of what they are buying. Before they know it, their cart is filled with items they don’t even remember purchasing. This is the other side of consumer culture¬-- where first impressions manipulate the consumers’ minds to constantly spend just because of an appealing presentation.