Thinking of the moral panic over terrorism as a fundamental part of consumer society allows for corrections to the problem of disproprotionality. The risk society thesis suggests that determining proportional responses to today's new risks is difficult or impossible. But this is not a problem for consumer societies. In the world of mass marketing and advertising, proportionate campaigns do not exist--the more publicity the better. Campbell (1987) has defined consumption itself as an exercise in "self-illusory hedonism"--a longing to experience in reality that which we have already imagined. This longing results in a ceasless quest for novelties that we hope will fulfill our fantasies--in this case, our fantasies of safety and security.

The terrorist folk devil is a creation of intense marketing efforts--a threat novel in its strength, its scope, and its continued ability to inspire renewed fears and entrepreneurial responses to those fears. As with all modern consumption, our imaginations are turned against us. In this case, our fearful imaginations are steered towards consumption of the "war on terror" brand of products and images while we are directed to construct our self-images in opposition to the gruesome, freedom-hating terrorists whose specter continues to haunt us.