Yes It Is, It’s True: We are manipulated by hucksters

“By the way if anyone here is in advertising or marketing… kill yourself… There’s no rationalization for what you do and you are Satan’s little helpers…— The late, great comedian Bill Hicks, to a night club audience nearly 25 years ago.

Anybody who knows me, understands I absolutely despise marketing and advertising, perhaps as much as Bill Hicks did.

I believe marketing and advertising have ruined virtually everything that is good in our society, all in the pursuit of money. I believe marketing and advertising have ruined athletics, entertainment, art, education and politics, and there’s more.

The art or persuading unwary common everyday working people to buy something they wouldn’t usually buy and can’t afford is baked into the art of the deal. The soulless, ethically challenged hucksters have become so good at what they do — they have gotten us to buy unhealthy cigarettes, buy bottled water when essentially we can get it for free, they’ve exploited our sexual obsessions to sell us products, convinced many of us that horizontal fracking is safe and climate change is a hoax.

All of it in the name of making money. And, as the Apostle Paul wrote so long ago, “The love of money is at the root of all evil.”

Even the Bible’s original sin wasn’t really Adam and Eve taking a bite out of the apple, it was the persuasion of the serpent to commit the act, using clever techniques.

And the marketer, the salesman, the carnival barker often crow about being so good at their craft they can sell refrigerators to Eskimoes.

I have been particularly alarmed at how political campaigns in modern times aredecided by who has the most persuasive advertisements. The best ideas too often are not what win, rather it’s the best marketed ideas that emerge, regardless of whether or not they contain truth or damn lies.

Even local public school districts have had to get into the business of marketing and advertising to sell local residents on purchasing better facilities. School officials these days seem to be more interested in public relations than doing the right thing.

I see it too often in so-called public meetings that on the surface attempt to involve the community, but in reality try to steer the unsophisticated toward approving what they want.

Marketing, advertising and public relations hucksters are very skilled at what they do. They study hard to get degrees in areas such as business communications, marketing and public relations and once hired they spend a great deal of time hatching advertising campaigns based on exploiting peoples’ emotions rather than harnessing their critical thinking.

One of my favorite film documentaries is a four-part series by Adam Curtis called, “The Century of the Self.” Curtis outlines the history of marketing and advertising that grew out of the field of psychology from the pioneer Sigmund Freud to his nephew, Edward Bernays. What resulted was psychology not used to help people with their mental and emotional problems, but much more lucrative psychology that treats all clients as just consumers. And its practitioners care not a whit about whether what you buy is what you needed, they only care about making the sale. Customer service too often proves it.

You can watch “The Century of the Self” for free on the Top Documentaries web site. It shows up on a list at the bottom right, reporting on “most shared” films. I recommend it without reservations.

Don’t say you haven’t been warned. P.T. Barnum was right… “There’s a sucker born every minute.”