The United States of Advertising

The influence adverts have on the American people seems to be made a bit clearer here in this report.

As the reporter says,

if your doctor is not offering you this drug, maybe you should be asking for it.

And this could very well be the norm for a multitude of other products and services shown on TV.

Perhaps this is why a half hour TV show takes an hour to air, due to the mass of adverts thrown in every 5 minutes (or there abouts..I'm sure someone from over the pond there will give more clarity to adverts Vs show times).

It is not uncommon here for a sports presenter to be required to break away from the main business in hand to draw your attention to the succulence of a sausage or the ruggedness of a truck.

Why? for pities sake.. what has a sports presenter got in the terms of advertising skills that it appears for him to be contracted to turn sports fans attention towards a truck passing by outside the playing field or a hot dog that a fan is eating.. does the presenter get a tip for doing so?

Nevertheless, the drug advertisements are designed to help you see a problem where one may not be, only for you to go to the doctor and hopefully be prescribed a possibly addictive drug.

Straining. Going Too Often. Not going at all. Going when you were not expecting to. Incomplete emptying

It's almost as though they make you feel 'not normal' if you're not regular. There has to be something wrong with you if you don't drop at least 4 times a day... just what are you eating? You must be so ill....

The biggest single market is in drugs that deal with erectile dysfunction.

Now adverts promoting the drugs for this problem are surely gonna grab your attention whether you've got a problem or not. At least if you think hard enough and long enough you just might begin to convince yourself that a little 'pick-up' wouldn't do any harm. Of course there's going to be the odd day/week/month where you just don't feel like it, so of course your partner might just complain a little..so off you trot to the docs armed with your pre-knowledge of the drug that'll get the blood flowing. Six weeks later and you hooked.. Coming off the drug now causes more 'droopiness' than you've ever had...whammo, up goes the profit margin (only an assumption though, any test I have/have not carried out are inconclusive).

And then the adverts tell you just what might happen as a side effect, but not to worry, it only happens to a certain % and it's not too much of a problem anyway..so don't worry..it'll be fine...

Those adverts with their sure sense of how to play on our doubts and insecurities are a symptom of the restless energy of American capitalism and of the belief that it can apply to issues of health and happiness just as readily as it can apply to polish or pet food.

news.bbc.co.uk...

So where's the best place to get your problems prescribed? The TV of course..go and make demands at your doctor of what you want, what you need and why!

Do it today! You know it makes sense (also makes a bigger bank balance for the doctor and the corporation flooding the market with half tested drugs that are most probably highly dangerous and would be classified illegal if any serious research was ever done on them...but what do I know, I'm not a doctor or a chemist)

So, turn on, tune in and forget the shows, the real deal is in the adverts...

I think that any reasonable and rational venture into the world of Mind Control/Influence conspiracies needs to begin with a grand look at advertisement.

Very simple principles are utilized day in and day out, such as the fact that regular television will 'automatically' up the volume once commercials begin.

As well, sociological principles are in rampant use, how many times have you seen a "frowny" face in conjunction with fast paced music?

The advertising industry is playing on the reactive aspects of the physiological being and it should be noted that many people do indeed react similarly. The various techniques at play in Extralien's example of pharmaceutical advertisements is a fabulous example if you take the time to seperate the audio, visual, and connotative...and then place them all back together objectively.

You can actually reverse engineer that which took scientists many years to learn and find application for!!

The world of conspiracy starts with personal perception and once one realizes that the world is designed to feign interest in the individual, the strategies are as visible as the bright colors and flashy fonts.

Happy hunting..

Advetising has ruined America. Corporations have found, through the development of psychoanalytic theories, ways to influence someone not just to buy something but how to condition and develop peoples behavior to consume the product.

Again I recommend the book- "No Logo" by naomi Klein and the documentry series that has been posted here many times "The Century of the Self" if you want more info on this stuff.

The film They live is an excellent example of the advertising at work, although slightly on the 'fantasy' side, it's a good way to express the basic process. What you're seeing and hearing isn't actually what you're getting.

Further references to "They live"
They live on Wiki
John Carpenter.com

The funny thing is, there is one particular company that advertises its products in a manner that makes the product look fresh, healthy, edible, filling, and economical... we all know and love/hate this particular company.. I can only imagine as to how few people on Earth have never heard of it...anyway.. You know the adverts.. you know the product...

And this is what you really get;




And let's take a quick look at the new 'spice' phone. This is a still image from a web page but is as good an example as any other.



So, what images, thoughts and feelings does the picture of the phone say to you?

To me, it's doing a few things.

1. The green window image... suggesting it's a 'green' planet/user friendly device.
2. The green is not any particular shade of green but a sharp clear green to highlight the colour of the phone making it more distinct than when it's in your pocket.
3 Spice... It's the spice of life (possible connection with the film Dune)..let's spice things up a bit... the 'plant' in the image appears to be of a spruce or fir tree branch, maybe even a herb. this connects you more with the name of the device and the image of the device, each piece confirming and strengthening the entire advert. Spice is also associated with hot foods (curry) and there are millions of curry lovers.

Spice Mobile has rolled out the S-525 handset in the Indian market. The phone is essentially targeted at entry-level Indians who are seeking music features along with the basic calling features at an affordable cost structure.

www.techshout.com...

Deliberate product name placing set for a particular group of people, Indians.

I'm pleased to say, I'm not a consumer in the usual sense.

After working in graphics, design and advertising for many years, I understand some of the driving force behind the methods and tactics used.

At one point I was working on "lever brothers" products...persil, radion etc.

When given a new artwork to produce (new best ever, 20% free etc), by the time it was going to print for the "new" product, it was obsolete and the next "version" was started..

All this for an extra 0.05% share of a certain "market".

Needless to say, I'm glad I got out of that stupid, non-creative role. What started as "Art", became the repetative manipulation of other peoples best ideas to produce just more profit.

It is the things we don't need that are given the highest profiles in the commercial arena.

Fact is, people are often ignorant and don't know how to distinguish between "needs" & "want's"! ....eg...they see something they want "soooo bad" they convince themselves it is something they "need".

The whole point of commercialism.

As a result of the many years advertising, designing and promoting things that hold no personal interest for me, I cannot be sold something I do not "NEED". I also understand why "brand name" products can be so damn unnecessarily expensive......you pay for fancy packaging, promotion, market research etc, etc....

Most advertising doesn't register with me now or even has a negative effect!and now I no longer hold the handle of a "stuff shovel", I can stand back and see more things for what they really are.

It's a shame most people will only ever be shovelled "stuff"!......

Also...with so many people having more money than they need, they can spent it on more "stuff".

"Stuff" does not make the person, the person makes the person.

This all comes down to personal realities and the definition between "need" and "want" and a realisation of advertising as "entertainment" and controlled ""deception" not just information.

[edit on 17/6/2008 by nerbot]