Advertising

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One thing that I hate in this world more than anything else (not really just saying that to make a point) is advertising. Why? It’s about the purpose of advertisements really. Companies make these commercials for other companies, to make money for both parties. They do this by convincing people like us that we need and or want certain products. Basically, they play on the fear that we have as human beings of being incomplete, that insecurity that all people have in varying amounts. Some people are insecure about their finances, others about their image and even more about keeping up with technology. Everyone has something that they always have to have, the latest thing, whether its the latest lipstick from loreal, the newest anti pimple cream with a radical formula or the latest smart phone with a touch screen and maps and shit. But that’s precisely my point, ultimately no one really needs any of these things. I tried a job in sales once selling investment software, and quit after a week. I am struggling with an illness, yes, but at the same time that illness brought to my attention the fact that basically what I was doing was playing on people’s emotions with regard to their money. The problem with this was that in order to convince them that they needed the product, it was my job after all, I had to tell a whole host of white lies to get them over their own personal fear. It was like interacting with someone on the most intense psychological level in order to remove the natural fears they had about the product, caused by parental impulses or financial knowledge. Say things like “My wife and I have been using it for a very long time” or “I’m not an accountant, I can’t give you financial advice, BUT ...” Advertising and sales are work forces that take advantage of people’s emotions in order to make money. That’s what it comes down to. It might not always be in a negative way, for instance I bought an Omega watch for several thousand dollars, I just wanted one and the salesman facilitated that desire, but at the same time, lets say I walked into the store said I might wanna be spending around $1000 dollars on a watch, then I’m pretty sure he would have jumped on that and used all his sales power to convince my mind that he had a product which was just what I needed.

Again, this is all coming from a very fucked up brain, which happens to reside within my skull,  but nevertheless, I’m thinking that the last thing most people need is to get obsessed with is the latest this and the latest that. Desire is such that it should only come from your own knowledge and resources, and not be born of a great advertising campaign by a Political party at election time let’s say, or a salesmen that can spin a great yarn.  

Before I bought my watch, I spent a month or more researching Swiss watches, found out about how perpetual movements work, the materials they were constructed from, how they survive the pressure levels when worn 2200 feet under water and was amazed by the engineering skill. I didn’t watch a Rolex commercial and think, yeah it would be cool to have one of those. Watches became something I really wanted to know the ins and outs of and doing that made me happy. Similarly when I spent over $2000 dollars on my computer system, I only did so because I bought a dud and decided you know what I’m not paying the same schmuk that sold this piece of shit to me more money to fix it, instead I learned how to fix computers myself and even though I made a few mistakes, by the end of that $2000 dollars I was on top of the world with joy. When I bought my PSP or my Nintendo DS because I thought it would be cool to have one, I used them for a week tops and they just became expensive door stops.

Just food for thought.

Ciao.