Night after night people sitting in front of TV screens are exposed to hundreds of commercial messages which interrupt the programs which they have chosen to watch. Most folks would say they only half-watch the messages. Many think they they don't pay any attention at all to these messages.
Such is not the case.
The modern commercial or political ad is loaded with images, words, and sounds known to flip emotional switches in our minds that make us like or dislike something or someone even when we are engaged in another activity and the message is playing in the background.
In other words, these ads have been designed to brainwash us, and they are quite effective at this task.
Read the brief article below and watch the video at the bottom. Notice how many of the images, or variations of them, you've seen before. Pay attention to the words that appear on the screen. Listen to the music and the tone of the narrator's voice. But most of all, pay attention to your own, internal response to the images, sounds, and words as they wash over your brain.
Everything You Hate About Advertising in One Fake Video That's Almost Too Real McSweeney's piece comes to life
Well, this is hilarious on a few different levels.
Stock video provider Dissolve has taken the text of Kendra Eash's brilliant advertising takedown, "This Is a Generic Brand Video," originally published by McSweeney's, and set it to actual stock video clips.
The company explains: "The minute we saw Kendra Eash's brilliant 'This Is a Generic Brand Video' on McSweeney's, we knew it was our moral imperative to make that generic brand video so. No surprise, we had all the footage."
The results, narrated by Dallas McClain, are outstanding. You've seen all of this footage in ads from major brands. It's everywhere. And it's great that a stock video house would so gleefully celebrate the soul-sucking manipulations for which its offerings are generally used.
Watch below, and have a great self-hating rest of your afternoon.
Did you really listen to what the narrator was saying the first time, or did you just go with the flow? Did you recognize that he was explaining exactly how the psychological tricks - the brainwashing techniques - work?
Hopefully, you will never again view television commercials or campaign ads in quite the same light once you've really watched and understood the message in the video.
Learn how to un-wash your brain. Watch the video again. You owe it to yourself.
Finally, because it's in keeping with my attitude toward the subject of this post but too long to serve as its title, I'll end with a bit of lyrical satire.
Please join me in singing I'm gonna wash that shit right outta my brain, a song from my new, imaginary blog musical Shout Specific!
Finally, because it's in keeping with my attitude toward the subject of this post but too long to serve as its title, I'll end with a bit of lyrical satire.
Please join me in singing I'm gonna wash that shit right outta my brain, a song from my new, imaginary blog musical Shout Specific!
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