Doesn't the fact that there is marketing in the world suggest that mankind is, in fact, under mind control? People might not be outright sleeper agents or anything crazy, but they are nevertheless buying X sneaker because X commercial told them to. We don't have to imply total mind control to admit that at least some mind control is going on there. The person may still be 99.9999% in control, but that little part of her mind that told her to buy X sneaker was directly influenced by commercial X. So, if we admit that, then we admit that we live in a mind controlled world, we maybe just disagree on the degree of it. Those saying "Yeah, commercials influence people but so what, that's minuscule." might be Level 1, and the tinfoil hat crowd would be level 10 because they believe everything and anything is looking to penetrate their mind. Then consider the fact that marketing is something that has been invested into more and more, because it was a procedure that worked, both commercially and in governmental elections. Additionally, as technology rose, people were more and more and more inundated with it, so the sheer volume went up along with sophistication methods. Between commercial marketing and government propaganda across the world, how much mind control is mankind actually under? Is it really that minuscule?
Its mainly for awareness...you won't buy something if you don't know it exsists... And then with compitition they try and show why the product X is better than product Y... And they try to make them appealing so you'l pay attention to the ad and hopefully remember it, that's why a lot have catchy songs... No one is buying shoes because a commerical was made and aired, shoes and fashion are dictated by trends more than ads...Jordans have been popular since I was in grade school and I'm 29 now, they don't run ads for Jordans on TV...
Not exactly a new revelation, and no it's not 'minuscule'. Our entire culture revolves around the buying and selling of goods facilitated by the government. Capitalism is the greatest form of economic growth because it completely relies on it. It's so deeply ingrained into our minds that even hearing the term 'Communist' or 'Fascist' leads us to believe that other forms of economic administration are completely bunk. Then the question remains; is capitalism okay? Yes.
LOL, the problem is that Americans have more disposable income than they know what to do with. So they waste it on "designer" clothes, bottled water, etc. etc. My (late) parents were young adults during the Great Depression, and my mother grew up dirt poor on a farm with no running water or central heat even before that. They were very frugal all their lives because of it. They shopped for value and weren't swayed by flashy commercials or what the latest fad was. They lived below their means, but we kids had everything we needed (but not everything we wanted.) Struggling to meet basic needs (food, water, clothing, shelter, which modern Americans are generally clueless about) tends to focus the mind. There is nothing wrong with honest advertising, but "buyer beware," and "a fool and his money are soon parted." I find it rather amusing listening to some people today who complain about not having any money, yet they have the latest smart phone, cable TV, fastest internet, go on expensive vacations, have 5-figure credit card debt, drive expensive new vehicles, have 2-3 bathrooms, twice as much living space than they need, swimming pools, yadda yadda yadda. I have NOTHING against any of that stuff as long as you have the money to pay for it. Oh well, that's my perspective from an earlier age.
My grandpa was born in 1925, grew up during the great depression,retired a multimillionaire, and still pinches pennies.
Not surprising to hear. Most people who have wealth (assets, not income) from working all their lives do not show it. They usually look like any middle-class person out there, and their spending/savings habits have not changed since they were young.
I didn't know he had that much money growing up because he lived in a normal middle class house. He did set up a college fund (to pay for 100% of college) for the 7 grandkids though..
They're competing for our money. That's what advertisement is. But you choose how to spend your money. Don't blame consumerism on brain washing you silly goose You know what started the industrial revolution? You guessed it - consumerism At the time the Brits had the highest wages in the world, tht meant they had disposable income. now are they going to hoard the money under their mattresses or buy meaningless novelties? Thankfully they choice materialism which caused more factories to open up and the search for new ways to increase efficiency. all so tht the Georgian era working man could have a rubber ducky in his tub Money is the undoubtedly the greatest invention ever, followed by the internet
influence is not the same as control. The art of diplomacy has been around longer than marketing In fact, the reason we can be manipulated is because we can make choices -Yuri
The "art of seduction" isn't far away. That's how most men end up getting laid, by telling them what they want to hear, sweet-talking, being super-nice. I was quite successful at it when I was young, although it wasn't anything I usually did consciously. .
You also have to take into account religious/cult brainwashing as well. People's susceptibility to suggestion exists on a spectrum. There will always be a certain amount of the population that is gullible and easy to exploit, so anyone wishing to capitalize on that minority's existence has a pretty easy shot - especially given the last hundred years of advances in the psychology of marketing. That being said, I agree with others in that consumer behavior, excluding that which is compelled by government, is reflective of voluntary choices made at the consumer level, and all of the collusion, cronyism, and fuckery that occurs still does not negate that fact. If we decided that statism qualifies a manifestation of brainwashing/indoctrination, then we could claim that the vast majority of civilization falls into that category.
The only reason ANY media exists is to sell advertising...newspapers, magazines, tv, facebook, grasscity, everything except wikipedia pretty much. Fuck it. Buy shit, sell shit, die.
If they couldn't sell advertising, all those things you mentioned could only be accessed by paying them directly.
Marketing doesn't control the population, the population controls the marketing. Companies give people what they want. But I think you're on the right track with gov't propaganda
Yes. The easiest way to succeed in business is to give your customers what they want, when they want it.
the reason you don't pay a subscription to use grass city forums is because advertisements fund the site -Yuri
^^Yup, I understand how it works. However in turn GC can charge a greater advertising fee with the collective 'my' membership. The internet is truly an advertisers dream with instant feedback/view counts/how many and who clicked certain links. Doesn't change the fact that all media/entertainment exists solely to sell you shit.