Comments | serai1: Blinking, prodding, whispering, yelling

serai1

Blinking, prodding, whispering, yelling

Aug 04, 2007 23:42

.

Over HERE, at PBS.org, you can view a fascinating Frontline documentary called The Persuaders, about the advertising industry and the immense changes it has wrought in our culture. It talks about how advertisers are no longer content to just sell you stuff; they are now aiming at recreating the world, enveloping all of us in a "second skin" ( Read more... )

links, society, vids

Comments 15

rabidsamfan August 5 2007, 10:21:24 UTC

I have a TV. I use it to watch DVDs and play video games.

serai1 August 5 2007, 16:09:58 UTC

Oh, I have a TV set. I meant that I don't have television, meaning the stuff that's broadcast.

rabidsamfan August 5 2007, 16:14:03 UTC

*grin*

I can tune in if I'm inclined, but I'm usually not inclined. (maybe once every three years.) I don't bother with cable, though, even if it does mean not getting my Doctor Who fix until the DVDs come out.

serai1 August 5 2007, 16:19:47 UTC

Where I live you need cable, since regular TV reception has eroded to the point where it's unwatchable without it. And having grown up with TV being FREE, there's no frigging way I'm gonna pay for it. That's what the bloody ADS are for. *hmph*

Thread 8

(The comment has been removed)

serai1 August 5 2007, 16:17:15 UTC

It's completely insane. But I agree with the doc that the extreme nature of advertising ends up inuring people to its message. The only way I can appreciate an ad is as a piece of filmmaking. I've very rarely been swayed by ads in the way they want me to be swayed, i.e., made to buy their products. I think I get that from my dad, who's a dyed-in-the-wool cynic.

Hmm, NPR. I used to trust them, but the way they've been parroting government propaganda about the war the last couple of years has lessened that considerably.

claudia603 August 5 2007, 13:16:24 UTC

wow. This is why I ALWAYS turn off when ads come on. I can't stand the "must have it" mentality that it tries to incur in all of us.

serai1 August 5 2007, 16:17:29 UTC

To be honest, I've never understood why people are swayed by ads. It's so transparently manipulative. Why should I believe somebody who's trying to talk me into buying something just so they can get paid their fee? It's silly. And the extreme jiggery-pokery nature of ads these days makes it sillier. If you want to sell me your product, just tell me plainly and honestly what's good about it. I don't need the video game hooha, thank you.

While I was watching this doc and they were talking about the transformation of Times Square and the "second skin" metaphor, I kept thinking of Minority Report - all those blaring animated ads covering ever inch of public wall space, and the retinal identifiers that would scan each passer-by so the ad could be custom tailored to them as they walked past. It's funny how quickly science fiction can become feasible, and then outdated. If privacy rights keep getting eroded at the rate they're going today, we'll see those kinds of ads within five years, I'll bet.

celandine_g August 5 2007, 17:59:59 UTC

I totally agree that 99% of ads are insulting to the intelligence of a 5-year old. But I will play devil's advocate for some of television. I very much enjoy the two history channels, PBS, The Science Channel, National Geographic, and Link-TV. I also have loved some of the Showtime serials, e.g., QAF, Rome, the Tudors--and I do enjoy watching "The Doctor" on Friday nights, hehe (thank-you, BBC!). So I think there are some things worth watching and God has given us the "mute" button which is one of the great inventions of the 20th century ( ... )

serai1 August 5 2007, 18:25:48 UTC

I don't think it's you that's changed so much as them. Ever since television first started, one of the requirements for operating a TV network was that they had to devote a certain percentage of airtime every day to serious news reporting in exchange for time on the airwaves, which was rented from the government. That meant that the news departments were not allowed to run on a for-profit model; they were a public service mandated by law. When Reagan deregulated the television industry, that killed network news. Now there was no reason to be serious about the news department; it could run on the same corporate profit motive as the rest of the programming. So we've seen the decline of news reporting over the last twenty years, from shows dedicated to presenting real events in a serious manner, to flashy crap that re-packages tabloid gossip and government propaganda, all helped along by loads of pundit-yammered bullshit. The people involved in the news tried to hang on and keep it real, but they were battered down bit by bit, as ( ... )

Thread 5

slipperieslope August 5 2007, 17:25:53 UTC

I rarely watch TV. I was a Nielsen family for the last five years and they would call to make sure I was still around. One summer the only thing I watched was Reagan's funeral, dawn to dusk. Our country knows how to bury a president, pomp and circumstance we have a hold on, fascinating stuff. I kept on telling Nielsen they didn't want me, but they insisted they did. Over with now, thank goodness. I kept cable for the 'Sopranos' - so I need to dump that now - cut back to basic would be smart. Since I got the PC - no time for tube. I imagine I will get back to it eventually, when my world narrows some more. As it is, I always try to move during the commercials, clean something, fetch something, march in place. The fact is now I get twitchy if something is longer than an hour with no commercials ; )

Uh oh! They got me anyway!