Friday, November 26, 2010

Writing about Propaganda (Advertising)

As I've stated before, it's pretty much impossible to wrote about propaganda (or in this case advertising) without writing propaganda.  An example of this observation is given in Bombing the Senses:
The right wing mouthpieces for the “business community” that fired these once industrious workers now labels them lazy welfare cheats while marketers still try to figure out how to sell them the latest sugar-coated turds — excuse me, vital products with healthy chemical preservatives and taste additives.
After all, Americans, conditioned through decades of sensory bombardment, expect buying new products will bring happiness on earth. They can also purchase salvation in the hereafter
My wife’s grandmother donated money to a TV preacher – dressed in a garish pimp-like suit. Elmer Gantry of the tube assured Granny God would reward her contribution to His cause.
Secular pitchers entice us: buy this IPhone; enrich your life. Focus groups and consumer surveys marketers once tested merchandise, to discover what colored dye made toothpaste most palatable, or the proper wording to transform Ex-Lax into something soft and cozy. As if!
Companies like Google, GM, CBS and Campbell Soups biw invest in science and technology that manipulate brains to send messages to hands -- to sign credit card slips.
Sounds like Pavlov's Dog.

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