Blog #8

The Persuaders is a documentary about the recent history and the current state of the advertising industry. It chronicles the methods and realities of advertising in America, it looks out where it came from and where it is now. Much of the film is concerned in following a new start up company called Song, a new age sort of airline. It follows the companies thoughts on their image and shows the steps that they take to get their brand known. The film also takes a look at the current state advertising in the U.S. It views how the trends have changed in the time when advertisements were just that, simple practical advertisements. It eventually transitions into the present day, the film looks at the people who are in advertising, people who would probably much rather have a job in art, and how they use their advertisements as a sort of artistic expression. This of course transitions into the rise of emotion driven advertising, creating a strong emotional bond with their brand. Many of the worlds top advertising companies view people as very emotion driven, one advertising "guru" saw people as 75% emotion and only 25% intellectual, believing that the difference between success was merely a specific choice of words. The film delved into a psychologist turned advertising guru who believed that there was a "code" to tap into what consumers really wanted, incidentally he was the main driving force behind hummer's decision to make bigger vehicles, and even a cheese manufacturers choice of packaging in the states. He believed that certain words held certain memories and associations for everyone and the key to good advertising was to tap into that. It looked at the way advertising looked to trigger key responses in consumers own feelings. It showed another advertising analyst believing the best way to advertise was to look at cults in order to see what makes people so fanatic about certain ideas. The view was that people become passionate about things they love, music, or religion, and use those very same methods to draw people to their product. It looked at Saturn own "Saturn-day" which is an enormous outdoor event that brings people from all over the country. People came to Saturn-day looking for a community with which to bond, they made their product a cultural icon, effectively creating a large "cult" following, a community drawn together by their product. The video looked at agencies who compile peoples personal information and sell it to ad agencies for consumer information, just to know how to create personalized ads for specific people.

My own impression of the film was one of great interest, how one person causes another person to think a certain way, or just to persuade them to purchase a product. It is so deeply rooted in the psychology behind a group of people, an in depth look at the personality and the mannerisms of potential consumers. The end of the film even seemed to nod to this sort of "personalized" advertising as a great positive thing that put power in the hands of the consumer. I'm afraid that I strongly disagree, the fact that people privacy is being so easily cast aside to make them spend money on products that they in all likely hood don't need. This so called power is turning people more and more into lifeless wallets pouring money out on extravagant items that they have no business purchasing. I do find it fascinating how it is that we work as a society, but I'm also constantly unnerved by the views taken by this advertising, that people are essentially emotional idiots. The idea that creating a cult around your product is a good idea is something very alien to me. In my own experience capitalism is a necessary evil, a way of life with great potential for good that caters to peoples true nature while refusing to believe in fanciful ideals. Its a system where the individual has a large amount of power, where they can sculpt their own lives, but its also one prone to predatory attitudes, where one individual can simply step across others heads in order to make a few more dollars. I think that the idea of invading someone's privacy to make money is fundamentally wrong.