Corporations use advertising to persuade us to buy their products. They do not force us to buy their products but is it ok for them to give us the impression their product is the best or only one to buy?
That may seem like a ridiculous question but if you go to court and lie you end up behind bars, why should it be different for government or behemoth companies?
When shopping for products our decisions are often limited to information created by the people trying to peddle the stuff to us. Sometimes we get samples or test services before we make the buying decision.
Why is it government advertise advertisers are not allowed to lie? Their intentions maybe good but they lull us to a false sense of security. If it’s advertised on TV it has to be true!
Convenience, Trust, Sharing and Caring
When I want a coke I ask for pepsi because I prefer it - what the hell is that stuff anyway? How come I drink the stuff don’t know what’s in it? It tastes good, rots my teeth and if I have too much I’ll get fat. Whatever made me start drinking it? My mother never bought it and outside of “beer” my family never ventured from the water that falls out of a tap. Who convinced me to start and how did they do it? I believe I was a victim of dishonest advertising. I see a friendly ol fella with a white beard and a smile giving prezzies to underprivileged children at Christmas and for some reason I associate that with a drink made from an extract of god-only-knows-what.
Did you know some corporations stoop to using tricks to get you hooked on their products? I’m not talking about cigarettes or alcohol. Next time you buy one of your favourite treats check the packaging for MSG or E621 because if it has it then that maybe the reason why you are hooked. This harmless sounding product can be found in almost everything you buy that is edible and comes in a wrapper, that fact alone is startling, what on earth did we eat before it was created? MSG is a flavour enhancer designed specifically to make you want more. No wonder our society is becoming “fat”.
But all that’s going to change. Remember you read it here first! I predict the death of large slow moving corporations and it will start with the largest advertising agencies - those that not only don’t understand but haven’t got a hope of following the changes to marketing in the next few years. I predict they will eventually come to ground-dwellers for help, and the huge money they have in their defence armoury will not save them unless they learn to accept change and do it quickly.
Venture capital firms, already strapped for ideas will eventually abandon technology, actually that’s wrong, technology will abandon them, already it’s easy to start a mobile community for no cost at all and to fund growth through float. VC’s will end up investing in bricks and mortar rather than “pricks and slaughter” (an apt description given by a VC investment manager).
The age of the people is among us. No longer do governments get away with overspend and incompetence unnoticed. The UK government suffered a major shock when the public found out their tax is spent on luxuries and second homes and worse still how the proceeds of sales are distributed when they leave. This is the tip of the iceberg. Whistle-blowing whether anonymously or pseudonymous has begun. Officious public officials are going to lose their pants in public unless they are squeaky clean, it won’t be a pleasant sight.
How is this all going to happen? You will make it happen. You are fed up with the control others have over your life, you are fed up that choices you would not have made are being forced on you. The next government in the UK is going to suffer hell at the hands of the people. Gone are the days when Blair and Gordon claim “we have a mandate from the people”. No one remembers giving them permission to raise fuel tax with complete disregard for the impact on the public or squander so much money on NHS contracts without even a hint of accountability. You listen to them defend themselves it’s like a broken record, they think the solution is to throw money at it. They claim they have spent more money than any other government like it’s something to be proud of. The local councils pays £25 for the same ream of paper I get for £3.50 in Staples. How can that be justified?
So many disastrous and incomplete projects and they still think it’s ok to award lucrative contracts to their cronies. All we remember are the promises made for change and how successful they have been in keeping them.
A blockade left the UK without fuel, people queued up for hours, businesses went bust, yet did the blockaders suffer the wrath of the public? Of course not, they supported it. More recently a few thousand bikers slowed traffic down on a motorway in response to one persons call for the government to reconsider yet more fuel price hikes.
People are fed up paying too much, whether tax or inflated due to corporate advertising over spend and the only reason action isn’t widespread is because of the inconvenience. Organising a demonstration takes a lot of effort, we don’t have the time to turn up, not because we don’t care but there’s a lot more to life and so little time to enjoy it. Make it convenient and more people will attend and it’s on the horizon too.
This kind of action will soon percolate to every aspect of society purchasing power. Consider this scenario:-
The mobile authority
You setup home with your partner, both in your early 20’s and happy to be away from the parents at last. You go to the local supermarket to buy your first box of automatic washing powder, you face this wall of bright coloured point-of-sale boxes and have not got a clue which is best for your machine - or even what type you should use. There are two solutions:-
1. Phone mum, admit your a dunce, ask her advice.
2. You check your handheld. Reading the RFID’s it displays a 5 x 5 matrix of stars. It already knows the make and model of your washing machine and gives a rating against suitability, reliability, quality, satisfaction and price. Your handheld advises you based on community opinion. Not advertising, not one persons opinion (your mum) but the wisdom of the crowd (put experts aside and read Wisdom of the Crowds by John Suriwiecki for an in depth analysis of this power).
I really believe we are at last at the dawn of true democracy, one that no government or corporation can control.
Can you see where this will lead? Those behemoth companies will try to infiltrate these communities but smart communities developed by smart programmers will keep them out. It may sound like marketing rhetoric but I really believe we are at last at the dawn of true democracy, one that no government or corporation can control.
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