Take Two

Every day when walking down the street, driving your car, listening to the radio and even watching TV, we are assaulted with advertisments that distract us from using any sense of logic. We see an ad that calls to us, for reasons that have nothing to do with the product. People will buy and ipod because they feel familiar with it, because of the ads we see every day. The famous brightly colored background with the black silhouette dancing in the foreground appeals to consumers for some reason. It could be the energy in the ad, or the fact that after seeing the ad, a person feels enlightened on all that is ipod. When the truth is, they know nothing, other than the contraption plays music. That is what advertisers want. They want to make the consumer believe they are smart, but keep them as uninformed about the product as possible.
Advertisers spend much time, money and effort on what it is that appeals to people. It seems ridiculous on one level to believe advertisers want people to have cult mentality, to be so engrossed with the product that the consumer feels they could not live without it. However, on another level, it is completely true. We see an ad on TV, billboard, radio, whatever, and think, “I need that product.” Not want, but actually need. However, so many advertisers are using the same tactic that consumers are numb to their ways. We pass by thousands of ads every day, and only the really good ones stick out. Certain ads stick out. For example, everyone knows about the Geico cavemen. What do cavemen have to do with car insurance? Nothing, but somehow it works. People like Rapaille make consumers think they are smart enough to pick out what they like, but in truth, Rapaille puts that idea in their head, a false sense of knowledge, and really picks for them. Making advertisements is one big mind game. Knowledge is the key, and consumers are usually locked out, without knowing they are locked out. It shows “loyalty beyond reason.”
Even movies today have become far different than movies in the past. “Scary” movies, for example have changed greatly over the years. Remember when “scary” was a little girl spitting out pea soup on a priest in the Exorcist was scary? Today, “scary” seems to mean a bunch of gore and violence. Take for example the Saw movies. Would the plot still be as good if people weren’t cutting their legs off and blood wasn’t flying everywhere? Or the movie Hostel. Why do people find entertainment in watching others being tortured? What happened in our culture to make people go from pea soup to ripping out intestines and sawing off limbs? Why all the violence? It’s the same as the advertisements. People become numb to different ways and need something new and outlandish to grab our attention. This detachment is not good.