The Persuaders

The Persuaders are those who control advertising.  Their main objective is to gain customers, and they will do mostly anything to accomplish this goal.  This exemplifies the meaning system of utilitarianism.  They are seeking their own happiness, which is measured in monetary value, and they are seeking the customers' happiness and content as well.  The means in which they take to do this are most often manipulative.  For example, in order to gain customers, the persuaders attempt to create the most enticing and subliminally appealing advertisements.  One  method of achieving this is through manipulating their brands and the meaning of their brands to be perceived as a hero, or an icon, which subconsciously triggers the customers' desire to have the said product.  This is manipulative because they are twisting the customers' perception of the true meaning of their brand.

The above picture exemplifies just how much advertisers manipulate us, the consumers.  Through twisted images and vague, twisting words, we become a victim of advertisements.  The fact is that we cannot detach ourselves enough from the enticing components of advertisements to not give in to the appeal of advertisements.

This concept can be referred to as being "advertising friendly".  We are so immersed in the advertisements that the are constantly bombarded by, and we do nothing to combat them and engage in independent thinking.  However, something that we have developed, primarily subconsciously, is some type of guard that decreases our interest and care for the products being advertised.  This has created a cycle that advertisers engage in, which entails trying to produce the most appealing advertisements that will actually engage with the audience enough to transform them into customers.  Simple advertisements are no longer sufficient.  Instead, advertisers now must create an emotional appeal.  They must delve into the audience's subconscious, and make an emotional connection between their products and the consumers' personal experiences and/or preferences.  A paper plate now is associated with some kind of deep positive emotion such as love, instead of just meaning an easier clean-up for backyard parties.  In order to gain customers, advertisers cannot help but engage in manipulative and unnecessarily deep advertising methods.