Of course, none of the products on the market today and none of the products anyonecan possibly conceive of will ever meet the deeper needs of a human being (which are distinguished from basic needs such as food, shelter, clean air and clean water) because those deeper needs are for love, belonging, and meaning. Who in their right mind would consciously believe that a pair of shoes or a car or a skin cream could ever do that? Yet, we buy and behave as if we did believe it.
Naturally, the marketing experts know this. They reach into our hearts to pull on the strings of our deepest longings so that we buy what they have to sell, knowing it will never satisfy those longings, secretly happy in that knowledge because it means we'll have to keep buying, scooping up more and more in a fruitless search for salvation that can never, ever come from this world. Ever.
I am not a theologian. I'm a psychotherapist near Albuquerque, NM. But I think this is idolatry in the purest sense of the word. In watching and treating people who suffer from profound anxiety, ennui and depression, I have come to the conclusion that God did not forbid idolatry because He was petty or needy. An Omnipotent Being does not need our worship or devotion. He prohibited idolatry because it is, in fact, delusional, and it will make us miserable. It will never satisfy us or make us happy in the way He wants us to be deeply happy, which could never be accomplished with a short shot of dope. If my assumption is true, then what we are missing is not just happiness but a contentedness and emotional sure-footedness that is bone-deep and fills us with joy on each inhalation. What we are accepting in exchange for this soul satisfaction is a house full of gadgets we have no time to use, closets full of designer labels and lives littered with broken relationships.
But we keep saying "no" to joy and "yes" to stuff. It is more than ironic. It is befuddling and tragic. But it is true and made possible by an exceedingly savvy and complex understanding of human nature in marketing executives who keep leading us into their stores and away from the Promised Land. I would like to make clear, here, that I do not believe that devotion to God and a healthy economy are mutually exclusive. I think an economy based on deception and delusion, however, is.
How do they do it? There are principles that apply almost universally in board rooms around the world. Marketing a new product is approached in just about the same way whether the group is meeting in Tokyo or New York.
Become the atmosphere: This is a phrase used to describe the infusion of brand recognition into our culture, to surround people with "Nike," for instance, so that when they think they need new sneakers, the first thing they'll think of is that brand. It has unfortunately become increasingly difficult to take command over the general economic "atmosphere" because of the quantity of clutter in the environment. There are so many products and so many messages, we are surrounded by such a huge amount of information that the task for marketing managers and creative directors is now much more sophisticated and complex.
One woman in the documentary, The Persuaders, said "Consumers are like roaches. You spray them and spray them and spray them." Eventually, she explained, they become inured so you have to do something radically different to make them roll over.
Advertisers are shameless creatures. I know this not only because of their general reputation but because I worked as a copywriter. They are willing to do almost anything to break through the clutter of advertising and product promotion that they themselves created, fabricate any plausible untruth to attract our attention, take advantage of any scandal so long as it shocks and sells. That is the bottom line.
Create a culture of need: This is market-ese for inventing a culture around a product, an image that not only creates a pseudo-need, but promises a new way to meet it. That brand new ailment restless leg syndrome is a perfect example of that. Who in human history has not experienced some restlessness due to stress, lack of exercise, too much exercise or overtiredness? It is a newly identified "syndrome" that people are easily convinced is a real disease that they must have because they're restless, too, and now they must convince their doctors to prescribe the only drug that actually treats this new condition. And so it goes.
Give products texture and life: By imbuing ordinary toiletries and household products with emotional energy (happiness, softness, kindness, sexuality, sensuality, friendliness, availability, etc") the advertisers are able to make that product resonate with people's emotional lives and secret needs. What differentiates one product from another now is not for the most part quality or some massive technical advantage. How much difference is there between high-end hiking boots or between a pair of jeans made by Levi's and one made by Wrangler's? Besides the occasional issue of fit, it is hugely emotional. It's not what the product does. It's what it means and by extension what it says about us to the world.
Create a culture of fear: The media (news, editorial and advertising) has been promoting viral fear for many years, both subtly and overtly. We are told to be afraid of attack, mega-volcanoes, being unattractive, body odor, illness, death, asteroids, wrinkles and social rejection (to name but a few). If we are sufficiently afraid and are presented with a possible solution, a way to banish the demons of anxiety and self-doubt, we'll buy it. Many of us become so afraid we are willing to put ourselves into irreversible debt to deflect it. And the thing we are most afraid of not belonging, being shunned, being seen as inferior or unworthy is precisely that which they are best at manipulating by making the product an extension of the self, thereby giving the illusion of value to a fragile and porous self that must continually seek out external buttresses to give it cohesion.
I used to think this use of fear to send us careening into retail stores was a manifestation of abject sociopathy, that the conscious manipulation of viral fear was intentional, malicious and controllable. But the other day I realized something that literally made me run into the other room for my pen and paper (yes, I still use them). These advertisers and marketers honestly can't help themselves any more than they can help selling fear because they're fearful. They are as much a product of the culture they created as everyone and everything else. (This reminds me of something I wrote in The Worst is Over: Be careful what you say. You're listening.) They sell fear because that's what they buy. Advertisers can't stop spreading viral fear because, in one marketer's words, they're terrified of being eaten alive by the competition. It doesn't get more limbic than that, does it?
Market to the American soul: It might amuse you to know that marketers actually use the term "Pseudo-spiritual marketing." What does this mean? Here are some terrific examples of spiritual marketing strategies and creative concepts that were illuminated in the documentary, The Persuaders. Nike: mystical transcendence through sports and sports attire. Starbucks: community similar to the one we see in the show, Cheers, not home and not work, yet sympathetic, warm and companionable. Benetton: diversity and cheerful coexistence. When they sit around a table banging out strategies and campaign slogans, they use expressions like "making a spiritual bond with a product" and "channeling the inner brand." The brand becomes the church and the product the icon.
Give the product an IMAGE: This means that campaigns will skillfully and persuasively present the product as more than it is. It's not a bitter tasting drink, it's a social lubricant. It's not a just a washer/dryer, it's a part of your real sophisticated yet practical self. It's not just a car, it's an integral demonstration of your personal narrative, which may translate thus: I drive a Hummer, therefore I am"And I am successful, tough, yet refined. A complex being, I am, I am. Such a complex being I am. The product is no longer a product but redefined as mystery, as intimacy, as meaning, as cult, as success, as comfort, as our due.
Facilitate entitlement, no matter what a person's financial means: Offer loans, no pre-payment options, leases with hidden clauses, no interest deals for three years, no payments for two years. Make it easier than it should be to buy luxury items for which they have no real need and make the consumer feel they not only need the product, but that it is their right to have it. If a product is identified with the "self" then it we don't have far to go to feel fear about not having that product.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
2
2
2
