Sep 11 2008
Unconscious Connections
Here we move into the realm of true subconscious conditioning, which the
true mavens of Madison Avenue foist upon on to sell cars, makeup, drills,
toilet paper, and Presidents. This is making connections, not obviously as
we saw before, but deep in the mind, totally bypassing conscious awareness.
These techniques are very commonly used now, and are very effective.
The first choice is what to connect with what. For sales, there is one
obvious answer for almost anything: sex. Sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, and more
sex. Sex sells. Sex sells better than anything else, to both men and women.
Whether this is Freudian or evil or whatever, it is true, and all of Madison
Avenue knows it. Connect a product (or a person) to sex and you’re almost
home. Obama has the advantage here by a lot; however, the nomination of
Palin as VP for the Republicans may have been motivated by many more things
than her record — like her legs.
The mechanism for the connection is usually very subtle: something is the
same, a marker, a footprint, between a sexual image and an image of the
product. Sometimes this is a logo. Sometimes it is an emphasized word louder
than the others by a specific percentage (have you noticed how commercials
are always louder than the shows on TV?) Sometimes it is a shape that can
appear in many places, like the Target circles. Sometimes it is a word with
the same typeface: smart, sexy, vibrant, white, anything. If this is
concealed in a “funny” commercial (for example, that gum with the blonde
spokesperson) then the subconscious not only gets sexual connections, but
good feelings as well. This is why so many commercials are comical.
This kind of communication with the subconscious is almost impossible to
catch in all cases, and is endemic. The ad men know much more about
conditioning large bodies of people than the government (which may be scary
in and of itself). We are all victims of this programming. Next time you see
a commercial that you like, watch for markers between the sexual parts of
the commercial and the product. Some will be clear and obvious. Some will be
very subtle. How many can you see?
One Response to “Unconscious Connections”
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I seldom watch TV commercials, however, every once in a while, when I am feeling either extremely bored or perhaps in need of a little masochism, I take a look. A critical look. I often see exactly what you have described and soon feel satiated not with the urge to buy buy buy, but with the nearly overwhelming urge to boycott boycott boycott. Call me weird.
The effectiveness of producing feelings of pleasure in the viewer is usually fairly obvious and easy to spot. Leggy babes in mini skirts powering the latest sports cars along challenging country roads are hard to miss. But there seems to be one area of TV advertising which goes completely against this grain, and I am curious to know why. I speak of commercials against drunk driving, smoking, drugs, bullying, etc. A common understanding among hypnotherapists is that creating negative feelings in order to sway the subject away from smoking is risky and not as effective as creating positive feelings about being a healthy non-smoker. Why then do so many ads for our own good focus so intently on creating negative feelings? Sure, they must be effective for some, but would it not be more efficient to show sober drivers getting all the hot chicks?
Is Madison Avenue perhaps trying too hard to establish a distinct difference between what is fun and what is dangerous? Or, , are they unwilling to displease their best customers by applying “sex sells” to campaigns against drinking irresponsibly?
Arafin