A toothbrush does little but clean teeth. Alcohol is important mostly for making people more or less drunk. An automobile can take one reliably to a destination and back... There being so little to be said, much must be invented. Social distinction must be associated with a house... sexual fulfillment with a particular... automobile, social acceptance with... a mouthwash, etc. We live surrounded by a systematic appeal to a dream world which all mature, scientific reality would reject. We, quite literally, advertise our commitment to immaturity, mendacity and profound gullibility. It is the hallmark of our culture.And this was before color television.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Creating desires with advertising...
Vance Packard, American journalist of some 50 years ago, quoted in Satyajit Das' book Extreme Money:
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Reminds of when I was in B-school one of the marketing recruiters was elaborating on the fact that working for their organization (which involved food) was much better than for personal care, since people only shave so often per day, whereas the potential was unlimited for their wares.
ReplyDeleteOf course, three years later this person jumped to one of those other types. SO much for walking the talk!
It reminds me of the time when I was looking to Hire Someone To Take My Class of Physics on my behalf and I offered a fair sum of amount for this job. So, physics again was taken as an inspiration for economic, financial as well as social means (lol)
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