The Lightbulb Conspiracy

WEEK III
The Light Bulb Conspiracy, written by “Cosima Dannoritzer”.
Light Bright: One of the key achievements of the global lightbulb alliance known as the Phoebus cartel was to engineer shorter-lived lamps. Samples were regularly checked to ensure they conformed to cartel standards; this photo shows a testing facility owned by cartel member Philips, of the Netherlands.

The Lightbulb Conspiracy
A Film By Cosima Dannoritzer Produced by Joan Ubeda

Keywords
- Planned obsolescence
- Throw-away Society
- Consumerism
Planned Obsolescence is the deliberate shortening of product life spans to guarantee consumer demand.
The Light Bulb Conspiracy uncovers how planned obsolescence has shaped our lives and economy since the 1920s when manufacturers deliberately started shortening the life of consumer products to increase demand. The film also profiles a new generation of consumers, designers, and business people who have started challenging planned obsolescence as an unsustainable economic driver.
The documentary begins by visiting the longest running light bulb in the world, which has burned continuously for over 110 years in Livermore, California. Initially, light bulbs were built to last. But the film finds historical evidence revealing how a cartel in the 1920s decided to produce bulbs limited to a maximum life of 1000 hours, making the humble light bulb one of the first examples of planned obsolescence and a model for increasing profits on other products.
The Light Bulb Conspiracy combines investigative research and rare archive footage to trace the untold story of Planned Obsolescence, from its beginnings in the 1920s with a secret cartel, set up expressly to limit the life span of light bulbs, to present-day stories involving cutting edge electronics (such as the iPod) and the growing spirit of resistance amongst ordinary consumers.
This film travels to France, Germany, Spain, and the US to find witnesses of a business practice that has become the basis of the modern economy and brings back disquieting pictures from Africa where discarded electronics are piling up in huge cemeteries for electronic waste.