I’ll leave with a quote from a Prilosec-OTC commercial: “Now why make a flavored heartburn pill? ‘Cuz this is America! And we don’t just make things you want, we make things you didn’t even know you wanted!” Yikes.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Disillusionment
Let me first say that I love this class and everything it
stands for, as well as what it has taught me. However, after our semester-long
examination of manipulation, I have become slightly disillusioned with society
and the media. As many others have mentioned, commercials seem so obviously
manipulative, and I have become increasingly short tempered with the tricks
that all advertisers seem to use to get people to buy their products.
Unfortunately, I cannot see a way to proceed from here. On the one hand, we
could try and force the advertisers to stop their manipulation, to simply state
what their product does, and why, and who made it, and where. We could try and
have a market that only caters to specific wants of specific people and does
not try and force itself on others. But really. Is there anyone who believes
that would work with the greed of both the producers and the consumers? Advertisers
would not just leave well enough alone, and although I have never taken an
economics class, I’m pretty sure the point is not to be satisfied with a small
group of consumers but rather to grow your business until it is classified as
booming. So, now we must consider the other hand. What I see is a world where
advertisers come with better, more subtle, tricks, and the consumer no longer
has any idea they are being manipulated. This eliminates the annoyance of
having products forced on you because the consumer would now be happy that this
is occurring, but is that any way to live your life? We decided that the only
way manipulation itself can be defeated is if you choose to either accept of
defy this manipulation. The idea of a world where the consumer lives in
ignorance of their forced consumption is a terrifying concept, but I see no
other option other than living in annoyance. If anyone has any other ideas,
please share them. I don’t want to live
in fear.
I’ll leave with a quote from a Prilosec-OTC commercial: “Now why make a flavored heartburn pill? ‘Cuz this is America! And we don’t just make things you want, we make things you didn’t even know you wanted!” Yikes.
I’ll leave with a quote from a Prilosec-OTC commercial: “Now why make a flavored heartburn pill? ‘Cuz this is America! And we don’t just make things you want, we make things you didn’t even know you wanted!” Yikes.
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I think this is a bit dramatic. "disillusioned with society and the media"? This class seems to have had quite the profound effect on you. Regardless, there is no need to live in fear. As you said, you can now see the manipulation for what it is - you should feel enlightened, not defenseless! It's kind of fun to figure out how people are trying to dupe you.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ben here -- the irony of living in a culture where the advertising is so subtle that you do not know you are being manipulated is that you would feel no imposition by the advertisers. I think we might already live in culture where we don't understand the subtleties... because I feel like I'm in control of what I buy. That false sense of control probably leaves me to be guided to products based on their advertising, while still believing that it's a personal decision.
ReplyDeleteFor example, I don't tell myself that I buy Old Spice because they have the best commercials. I tell myself that I buy Old Spice because their anti-perspirant effect is the strongest. But maybe I've integrated their advertising schema into my decision and cloaked it with subjective, anecdotal evidence.