"The Persuaders"

df1.What in "The Persuaders" surprised you? Name one new thing you learned marketing or politics from watching the film. Name one thing you learned about yourself from watching the film. One thing that surprised me is that even though there are laws govering the truth for advertising companies they still get away with saying almost anything they want to get someone to buy something. One thing I learned from the film is that companies overexagerate even more than thought. I learned that I give ads more credit than they deserve. I knew that ad companies lied but i didn't think that they could get away with lieing that much.
2. How would you assess the amount of advertising you see? Too much? Just right? In your view, what difference does it make to know that people today see much more advertising in their daily lives then people 20 or 30 years ago? I see alot of advertising daily. For me, I believe that it is way to much to see an ad every couple of feet. The more ads a person sees about a product the more likely a person will change their mind and possibly buy the product. 20 -30 years ago there wasn't as much advertising, so less people would be persuaded to buy the product. People 20-30 years ago someone could go a day without seeing more than one ad. Today if you see only one ad in a day you must be living under a rock.
3. What surprised you in the descriptions of how much demographic information marketers have about potential customers? What kinds of information would you be willing to share about yourself or family in order to enter a contest? Get a discount? Get online? Get a cell phone? Use a credit card? Would you be willing to revel your name, address, and phone number? What music you listen to or your favorite snacks? The grades on your last report card? How much your parents earn? What medications people in your family take? What kinds of information would you want to keep private? It surprised ne how much information people give up to either buy a product or enter a contest that they probably won't even win. People give up their addresses, and a lot of other personal information that ain't even needed. There are people out there that would give up any information to get something. They don't even check to make sure who they are giving their information to are even real. I would only give up information to someone or a company that I absolutely trust.
4. In "The Persuaders" marketer Kevin Roberts uses the term "lovemarks" to identify brands to which people are loyal even when devotion is not logical. Are there brands to which you are devoted? When you stop to think about it, is your loyalty to any particular brand logical or a "lovemark"? If purchasing a particular brand ain't logical, why would you (or other people) do it?
There are some companies and brands that I am loyal to. For example the brand of jeans that I wear. I don't really care what brand I wear, but I refuse to wear Levi's because of what the company stands for. People are loyal to brands for their own reasons, but sometimes those reasons ain't logical. When I say that, I mean that the reason a person loyalty to a brand doesn't make sense at all.
5. Douglas Rushkoff asks, " What happens when advertisers assume the roles of our writers, journalist, and entertainers?" How would you answer him. When that happens the companies reach certain groups of people who may not have liked their product at first. For example; if someone sees their favorite entertainer on a commercial for a product that they didn't like before, they may think to theirselves " well if so and so likes this product maybe it ain't that bad." That is the reason a lot of people buy the products that they do. What they don't realize is that the entertainer is just being paid to say that they like the product.
6. Advertising executive Douglas Atkins argues that purchasing branded merchendise now provides that same sense of belonging that was once provided by community institutions like schools, churches, civic groups, or fraternal orders. What provides you with a sense of belonging or identity? What role, if any, does marketing play in what you identify with or where you hang out? Really the only thing that gives me a sense of belonging is being aroundmy friends, family, and playing the sports I like. But for some people a certain brand of something gives them a sense of belonging. Marketing don't really play a part in where I hang out. I don't really pay attention to that kind of stuff. But there are people that do care. Some people's lives revolve around marketing.
7. Political consultant Frank Luntz tells his clients that, "80 percent of our life is emotion and only 20 percent is intellect. I am much more interested in how you feel than how you think." Contrast this with Thomas Jefferson's notion that democracy requires an "informed citizenry". What is the potential impact of Luntz political strategy recommendations on the health of democracy? With his political strategy he gets his point across by making someone feel like they need something that they don't rather than informing the person about it. That's what advertisements do. They focus on making the consumer feel like they need the product rather than informing them about the product. That is why people buy things but know nuthing about them.
8. Rushkoff says that political stratigist Frank Luntz " has built his career on a simple idea: It doesn't matter what you want to tell the public, it's about what they want to hear." Do you think the phrases that Luntz develops to "sell" political positions help clarify the issues or mislead voters? I believe that he misleads voters by saying he will do things that they want done but after he is voted in he completly ignores the issue. When someone does that they are pretty much lieing to the country or state. Even though I don't vote I still don't like it when politicians say they are going to do something but don't do it. For example Obama; he said he would pull troops out of Iraq immediately when he got in office. When actually since he went into office the number of troops in Iraq has increased.
9. Douglas Rushkoff asks, " What does it mean when we merge our once seperate roles as consumers and citizens?" How would you answer Rushkoff's question? Given that the U.S. economy is based on consumer spending, is it partiotic to shop? I would't say it's patriotic. Because if you do call it patriotic, you are calling someone who doesn't shop pretty much a traitor. Although shopping does help the economy, it is not patriotic to shop. To call it patriotic would be ridiculous.
10. "The Persuaders" points out that there are laws governing truth in advertising for products and services, but that "politicians can legally say whatever they want." Should political ads be governed by the same laws that govern product ads? Why do you think there ain't such laws? I believe that political ads should have the same laws as product ads. Because it may be a political ad but it is still an ad. And it is stupid to have laws against false sdvertising for product ads, but a man running for office can lie all he wants to in his political ad. I believe the reason there ain't such laws is because the people who make the laws lied in their political ads to get where they are, and probably plan on doing it again. That to me is unconstitutional, and should be changed ASAP!!!