[450] Add-Block

I hate advertising. The idea of “crafting a message” is no less intriguing. In what area of life do you allow the exact same message to beat you over the head 30 times over the course of a few hours? And maybe the annoyance or effect is massively amplified when you don’t have cable, but my god, I understand why people would write off all television if they were submitted to the dialogue of the background show when you press On Demand.

The contrast is what is lost in these messages. It’s not really “on demand”, is it? It warns you the fast forward is disabled, making your time dedication to advertising mandatory. You get the last few episodes available to you before they disappear or drop behind a paywall. You know, so you can pay on top of your bill.

Beyond the ordeal that is Comcast you get the suggestion a dozen times that you’re sick or perhaps not sick enough and need to start asking your doctor for prescriptions. Again, doesn’t health boil down to food most of the time? No, you either need this pill or must suffer your malady which I guess everyone at the office and all your friends are talking about. The insane levels of insecurity you must reach to actively pursue these measures must be terrifying.

You’ll get told your character traits which dispose you to a certain kind of car. You’ll hear allusions about the household you run and your relationship to your co-workers. It’s really freaking the shit out of me how many times I heard the term “binge watching,” how good tv makes you feel, and how much pride you should take in the amount of time you spend listening to its messages. I tied #yearofbeingboring to my TV activities and tried to pair it with using a treadmill. There is no amount of pride one should derive from merely sitting on their ass.

Isn’t the idea of “selling yourself” underneath much of our psychology? Why I can find useless person after useless person who knew how to talk and show up to the first meeting and then falls off the planet. Why the words “best” or “fresh” or “unique” have lost all their meaning. The driving force of any “social” media profile. Gotta “pump up your resume” to mask your sheer inability to really do what’s being asked of you, in service to things you don’t care about, that may in fact be directly tied to your general demise as an individual.

This strikes me as kind of old news. But then that’s kind of another horrifying idea. That I haven’t had cable for 8 years and the difference between then and now is CBS turned into a social justice warrior. Don’t bully, don’t kill yourself, and don’t be mean to the gays. Not that the messages aren’t on point, but it starts to make a little more sense if this is one of the most popular places that people come to unwind why we’ve pushed ourselves into an era of overt sensitivity.

There’s a large presumption. Probably more like several presumptions, but we’re keeping things fairly superficial so far. It’s the idea that through our effort or design we can change ideas. Because of the pretty colors, familiar music, and celebrity face, you’re going to root positive feelings about something. It’s less about whether or not consumers have the money, what the effects of whatever is being sold actually are, or whether it’s necessary or useful. When you get the money are you going to, in your gut, reflexively reach for Tide now that you’re “better than that bargain brand crap.”

I like to think about arguments in general. Nobody changes their mind from an argument. They change their mind based on how they feel about the argument. They change when they feel the intensity of one side’s feeling coming through the words. If they changed based on “logical arguments” you’d never have wasted as much time as I have on people who are religious. You’d never see the mind-numbing back and forths with climate deniers. Change takes honesty. People aren’t honest. Even agreeing about what the word “honest” is supposed to mean takes responsibility and a certain effort.

It’s the fluidity of language where all the murders take place. “Faith” and “evidence” are certainly wide words when you tackle religion. “Of course climate changes” and “consensus” are oddly used to summarily dismiss the books of consequences while patting yourself on the back for seeing so obviously what others can’t. It doesn’t have to be this way, but the emotional investment can’t be dealt with. You have to flood their house or kill their spouse to even introduce the idea of doubt. And then, make sure they’re not a Republican who wants the government to get its stinkin’ hands off their Medicaid.

For the record, I hope you don’t think I’m on some sort of crusade or ever actually believe what I say gets anywhere. I speak out because I see harm, not because I believe in your capacity to change anymore than mine...to cope. I have to actively attack my ideas for years. You might be doing that in secret, sure, but I think the time for significant change has sort of come and gone.

But let’s not lose the message that the message is already lost. You can gain a kind of awareness that makes advertising literally begin to cause you headaches, but certainly it’s easier not to think too much about it and think of it as “normal.” Hell, even “necessary” because who else would pay the bills? Not everything can be prime-time cable, right?

How long does an “appropriately sized” message about messaging really have to be? I’m just one more voice in the ether. “Uppity” “wise” “rants” are my “brand.” Now go wash it down with a refreshing Miller Light, you deserve it. Especially if you enjoy Miller Light.