Advertising, marketing, propaganda. It programs people’s brains. It is extremely powerful.
There are dozens of these mass brain-programming campaigns going on right now. It’s been happening for many years … maybe centuries.
And yes, USAian hollywood films are just
large marketing campaignspropaganda.About a century, actually. Marketing began in the US after WWII when we suddenly had the ability to create more products than people needed. People needed to be convinced to buy shit they didn’t need, and thus marketing was invented.
The first notable marketing campaign was cigarettes for ladies in 1929. Cigarette companies were missing a whole section of consumers because women weren’t supposed to smoke, especially in public. A group of beautiful young models were hired to smoke cigarettes at a big important parade that was going to get lots of coverage in the newspaper. A reporter was paid to “report” on their “carefree” and “liberated” manner as they smoked “torches of freedom” out at the festivities. Equality, feminism, yay!
Associating male virility with vehicle choice was next. Both were brain children of Sigmund Freud’s nephew, Edward Bernays, who was very interested in his uncle’s ideas about people’s actions being influenced by their subconscious mind, before it was popular in America.
This is a four hour documentary about the social manipulation of the last century, including the above, getting young progressives to vote for Regan in the 80s and much more. Century of the Self (BBC 2002)
Marketing began in the US after WWII […].The first notable marketing campaign was […] in 1929.
🤔
Damn. I was just about to reply the same thing. But instead of an emoji, I was going to say “Pick one!”
“WHATZAAAAAAAAAP!!!”
AND A 3D BY THOSE DAMN DUDDLEYS!!!
It could also just be the beginning of a new fad.
Fidget spinners were uncommon and kinda weird before they really took off.
Natural early adoption of a thing solely by word of mouth looks almost the same as marketing.
A lot of ‘word of mouth’ fads are initiated by clever marketing pretending to be word of mouth.
I really should have used a better example like a tiktok dance/challenge or a meme format instead of a physical product.
Or new slang
TikTok is just an endless stream of ads
I don’t think the “Harlem Shake” had commercial interests. Who was making money off of that?
Bauuer?
You think fidget spinners apparated from thin air?
Obviously not.
They’re created through alchemy.
Ah, yes. That’s Arabic for “The Chemy.”
Or theatre students. They used to send them out to act weird in public to get over feeling self conscious.
Are you sure that’s not just the innate weirdness of theatre students you’re seeing? Especially late-night coming down off the high of a show, singing and dancing in the Denny’s parking lot…🎶
[off topic?]
“The Source Of The Nile” by Avram Davidson. Science fiction short story.
Ad man is always looking for the next big thing. One day he notices some kids wearing their sneakers cut up. A few days later he realizes that the fad has exploded. He patiently tracks down where the fad started. It turns out there’s one family that starts all the fads. It’s never explained why or how, just that somehow these people are the ones who decide what’s going to be popular for the rest of the world.
In all likelihood some of your own interests and habits were put there by a marketing department. Not because it’s good or right or useful but because it profited… somebody who could afford to hire a marketing department.
Looks at Pokemon
You can take pikachu from my cold dead hands
Scalpers and “investors” are starting to fight people for the product, and they will probably pry it out of your dead hands.
I’m looking at you, Santa.
Manipulates you into going to the toy store and seeing that there is a boy’s section and girl’s section. And they are separate. Because there are two genders and they are in binary opposition to each other.
Marketing, propaganda, and politics is everything that you engage with all of the time. Any time you are in a group of three friends and you have to make a decision, the process by which you do it will be political in nature. The conclusion you reach will be based on the cultural context of the propaganda you were steeped in.
With this knowledge you can analyze the everyday politics and propaganda you encounter that you never even think about. You can make small changes to the politics you present and the propaganda you spread in the world. Every decision and action you take influences the people around you and all of that ripples out into the world. Something you do can inspire another person to act in a way that you would be inspired by. You may take an action and someone sees you and says “Yeah I’ve been feeling that, too! I was just too alone to say it, but now I know other people are out there”
Alright, boys. Hear me out. You cut a hole on the inside of your pocket, put on your pants, then pull your penis through the hole so that it is emerging and/or hanging out of your pocket.
I don’t even get what behavior you’re referring to
or you’re just hanging out with your friends re-creating scenes from your favorite movies outside (or LARPing).
People who love to drive longs distances. People who love mayonnaise. People who react strongly at the mention of drugs.
I was scrolling down to actually read some examples and those are it? Seriously?
Wait, what’s wrong with mayonnaise?
Don’t get me fucking started
Nothing. But there’s this segment of the boomer generation that’s notoriously obsessed with it. They put it on everything.
No doubt they all got exposed to the same tv commercial and it took.
Or they grew up Bri’ish and were force fed it with fish and potatoes.
I don’t love to defend advertising/marketing, but your statement implies that once something has been advertised, organic interest/enjoyment becomes impossible.
Sure, there might’ve been a big ad push that rocketed mayo to the top of people’s condiment lists. But there are dozens of other things that could also create interest (new foods that pair well with it, new recipes that are shared culturally, loss of a competing product, diet changes)
Bizarre, I’ve never encountered this, but maybe I’m just avoiding that segment of people, or the mayo lobby wasn’t as on point in Oz
I know this guy who puts it on jello
I knew a guy who put it on sandwiches with peanut butter
😮
Mayo is a god damn perfect condiment, it goes with just about everything!
I will fight you over this!
