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If we really wanted to be remarkable in our lives, we would choose to take an alternate, less-trodden, hard path away from this cycle.
| Written by Osama A. on 04/13/08 in Marketing/Adv, General |
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April 13th, 2008 at 11:27 am
Great find Osama. I think we should take an alternate path away from this cycle even if we DON’T care about how remarkable we are, as this lifestyle is an insult to our intelligence
I stopped watching TV totally 6 years ago for the very reason. The internet is good enough for information, and DVDs are all you need for the same kind of entertainment that TV gives you - minus the ads.
These days, I’m trying to teach my son about how McDonalds was fooling my generation by giving them toys with Happy Meal (TM) and making their experience at their play place a happy one, so that when they grow up, they’ll head to McDs with their kids because they used to have a happy time there when THEY were kids and so on. This is standard stuff Marketing 101 stuff, but it is still painful to see this consumer culture thrust upon us like that.
My son now grasps the idea that ads are made to fool and force us into buying stuff so that the manufacturers can make profit - for a 5 year old. We need to undo all that brainwashing, and make sure it is not passed on to the next generations.
August 1st, 2008 at 11:45 am
“Fool and force us?” C’mon…. stereotyping ALL people and corporations into being evil consumers is a bit ignorant in my opinion. I hardly think getting a toy with a Happy Meal should be outlawed immediately. Marketing can be used for evil, but it can be used for good aspects as well. Most importantly, YOU are the one that needs to make the CHOICE when you see an ad. The ad doesn’t make the choice for you.
August 1st, 2008 at 2:20 pm
I never said that ALL people and corporations are evil consumers… its the corporations that are evil and the people/consumers that are the victims of that evil
Of course I have to stereotype and exaggerate in order to get the point through to a 5 year old! That’s the only way! Isn’t that the way Cartoon Network ads have brainwashed them to think? …that ALL kids who eat a certain chewing gum can fly/turn into super-heros etc. etc.?
I never said a Happy Meal should be OUTLAWED, but when all a kid knows is that a happy meal gets them a toy, that is what he’ll NAG me for, and then, I can either buy him one and make him … happy … or I can NOT buy it for him and instead, try to explain it to him why I’m making that CHOICE. Guess what’s easier to do? Guess what is part of the curriculum in most marketing courses?
Yes, the ad doesn’t make the choice for me - because I don’t let it influence my decisions… but can I stop the neurons inside the brain of my child from making countless unnecessary circuits when he is exposed to a zillion ads per day?
If I had the choice, would I deliberately show him a few hundred ads per day so that he may make “informed decisions” about things he does not need but WANTS to purchase?
This is precisely what kids are being exposed to… training them as the next generation of consumers.
Sure, like guns, marketing can be used for both evil and good.
http://www.newdream.org/kids/facts.php
http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1701833
August 8th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Wait, wait, wait, you mean the gum that I chew doesn’t make me into a super hero??? Tell me it isn’t so!!!
In all seriousness, I apologize if my comments were viewed as an attack, as I didn’t mean it that way. You definitely bring up some great points–thank you!
August 18th, 2008 at 7:26 am
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