--- TurquoiseB wrote:
>
> A few years ago there was a fascinating article in Tricycle
> about Advertising and Buddhism. Very well written, it
> pointed out that the whole *purpose* of advertising was
> to create desire, desire strong enough that the target
> of the advertising feels he or she has to act upon it.
> Needless to say, this is rather counterproductive to the
> Buddhist notion of getting beyond having to act on one's
> desires.
In 1985 or so I attended a conference for arts administrators
sponsored by the Iowa Arts Council. One of the presentations
dealt with psychographics, which lumps people into nine
different categories for marketing purposes. (Barry eschews
models, but I love 'em.)
For example, one group consists of those who've attained
wealth and status, and another group consists of those who
strive to attain it. One markets to each group in a different
way. For example, a selling propositon for the strivers is, "This
will help you arrive at your goal." That message would make no
sense to attainers.
At the top of the pile is a category for self-actualized people,
and guess what? It's practically impossible to market to them.
They don't have any buttons you can push!
Attending the event with me was Michael Sternfeld, who was
then director of the Fairfield Arts Association. His description
of the difficulties in marketing to 'rus was a case study in how
tough it is to market to this top psychographic category. They
didn't seem to respond to marketing in any kind of repeatable,
consistent way.
I admit there could be other explanations for Michael's
frustration, but the psychographic explanation really worked
for me at the time.
As for the advertising and Buddhism article, I would argue that
advertising doesn't create desire so much as channel it. Desire
is natural to life. You're going to fufill it somehow. The advertiser
says, "Here's how."
Here's another point, given my propensity for models and my current
interest in the Course in Miracles' picture of life in ignorance.
The ego requires constant feeding to maintain its fiction.
Advertising feeds off that hunger. it says, "Use this product to
quench your thirst (an existing desire, not a created one) because
it reinforces the way you view yourself."
Consumer advertising creates all these mirrors that we use to
reaffirm the self, to once again use Peter's worthy metaphor.
Now, business-to-business advertising, on the other hand,
mostly meets honest-to-goodness needs such as lowering
costs and increasing productivity. But that's boring in the
context of this discussion.
Anyway, I have the same attitude toward the evils of advertising
that I have toward the evils of strip clubs: it depends on what you
bring to it.
Criminy. With all my hammering of personal responsibility, I sound
like a conservative.
- Patrick Gillam
www.itellyousell.com
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