On Sat, 26 Nov 2016 16:18:41 +0000, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
Johnny B Good wrote:
Despite the inescapable consequences of living a consumerised western
lifestyle, it's still worth keeping in mind why we're so often left
with that deep rooted feeling of dissatisfaction with almost every one
of our latest "Must Have" purchases. In short, that feeling is 'By
Design' since the marketing/advertising industries' are serving their
client's needs, not yours.

The fault tends to be ours. Taking advertising at face value. A 'new'
model must automatically be better than the previous one. It may well
have differences - but only you can decide if it is better.

That's pretty much the case. When it comes to examining the marketing
blurb, we are often our own worst enemy. We (as a species that has become
so highly evolved to take the power and benefits of group organisation to
its ultimate limit) are, as individuals, always seeking guidance and
reassurance from our peers, especially the older more experienced
authority figures amongst our peer (or tribal) group.

It is this feature of our psychological make up that's being so roundly
exploited by corporate marketing divisions worldwide through their
Maddison Avenue Minions.

This built in willingness to go along with the group has been Humanity's
key strength in gaining ascendency over all other species on the planet
but, as with everything, such a key characteristic, like technology, is a
double edged sword that generally benefits society as a whole but which
so often is a detriment to the individual in one way or another.

Like every such 'fact of life', there is nothing inherently evil in such
'double edged' solutions. It simply boils down to establishing an optimum
balance between the good of society and that of its individual members.

Our inherent need to be assured that we are making the right decision
whenever we're faced with a non-trivial choice, is exploited to the max
by the advertising agencies who use phrases and imagery designed by
psychology experts to make us want to believe that what is being offered
is all benefit with absolutely no downside (or, to express it bluntly,
put us all in a more gullible or receptive frame of mind).

If you wish to gain a little more immunity against the effects of
'advertising', a key 'fact' to bear in mind is that the only difference
between "Propaganda" and "Advertising" is in name alone. It's quite
telling that the advertising industry uses the phrase, "Advertising
Campaign", acknowledging the "War of Words" military aspect of their core
business activity.

The key thing to remember when shopping around for any product is that
it's not so much a case of buying the most satisfactory product so much
as buying the least unsatisfactory product at a given price point. Also,
keep in mind that these advertised "Gift Horses" not only need to be
looked in the mouth, they should also, metaphorically speaking, be
examined with dental X-ray equipment for good measure.

A mere cursory glance will often suffice to save you the embarrassment
of buying a thinly disguised turkey but it's no guarantee that a more
cunningly disguised one might still land up joining the rest of your
flock instead of adding to the herd. "Caveat emptor" in this case means
in essence, "Don't be your own worst enemy!"

--
Johnny B Good