Guilty as charged?

I listened and attempted to make some notes while watching The Persuaders in class, and I contemplated as to how I felt about the issue at hand. The entire movie was made in efforts to open our eyes to the countless ways we are vulnerable to the media's influence on us, both as consumers, and opinion holders. Did anyone else catch the brand name on the computer that he was typing on throughout the entire movie? I was thinking that maybe this was him trying to "test" us on the issue. Or maybe the entire thing was made to see how many computers could be sold after the movie came out?

I remeber a time when labels of Coke, Pepsi, Aquafina, Gateway Computers, etc. were all replaced by generic names in movies, television shows, or anything besides commercials that people watched. I guess I just wasn't paying attention between that time and now, when companies have gotten smart and put their product name in big, bold letters for all to see. Great marketing technique, obviously - I didn't even notice.

Maybe I'm alone in this mindset, but I don't think that the persuaders are doing anything ethically or morally wrong because I believe that people are responsible for their actions. Commercials set in between television programs are becoming obsolete because more and more people are purchasing higher forms of cable; they don't have to wait for commercials to end - they can simply fast-forward right through them. So this makes the persuaders go one step further and put their product into movies that we have a general interest in. For example, Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. Obviously the people in charge of advertising for White Castle are trying to build a crowd of consumers, (all about our age) because they think we aren't educated enough to see that they want us to waste our hard earned money on fast-food. But the movie didn't make me want to go to White Castle and spend $50 on a bunch of hamburgers. It just made me smile that it was an actual chain restaurant that they were referring to the entire time. Another example would be Adam Sandler's Eight Crazy Nights. One particular scene in that movie showed like 15 chain stores that we all know of and are familiar with. But it's not like I went there right afterward and bought them out. Again, it just made me relate to the movie more since they were referring to actual stores that I have been in and am familiar with.

The whole idea that there is an "unconscious code for products" is a bunch of bologna, in my opinion. There's no way that a human being can induce someone to persuade themselves. If it's something that you need, or that the advertiser makes you believe you need, that's a different story. But individually, you should know the difference. I do, however, believe that advertisers play on people's weaknesses, but I would call that good advertising. For example, good avertisers today know that there is a multitude of Americans who are weight conscious. Knowing this, they can obviously use it to their advantage and advertise with thin, beautiful people for their products. Or if advertisers pay attention to the ratings of television shows/series, they can tell which shows get the most audience. Therefore, they can pay to have their product all over the screen. (Absolut Hunk - Sex and the City) But again, if you go out and buy Absolut Vodka instead of Grey Goose because Samantha's playtoy of the season was seen on a pseudo ad in the show, then that's your own stupidity.

I can say that I was vulnerable to some things that The Persuaders pointed out to me in the movie. Vulnerable meaning that I didn't even realize what I was being told; not vulnerable in the fact that I bought something that I didn't really need. I know how hard I work for the money I have, as do all of you I am sure. So that makes me skeptical when I see an advertisement for "miracle" cream to clean up every blemish on my entire face for the REST OF MY LIFE!!! But hey, the persuaders know that we're getting smarter. So in turn, they're getting smarter too. They put Jessica Simpson as the spokesperson for the stuff, because hey, she knows exactly what she's talking about!!