Moving right along, many things are wrong. Several things are right, please try them and you might be surprised! 😀
This nugget of an idea came to me (at least in part) via Josepha Haden-Chomphosy, who recently reminded me of this little piece of wisdom by referring to one of her own earlier podcast episodes. [1]
Likewise, the stuff I want to write about today is (of course) also related to stuff I’ve written about earlier. [2]
Many decades ago (and sometimes still today in Germany), people randomly call on the telephone and bluntly ask if you have a few minutes to answer some questions. I always answer equally bluntly: “No.” Such calls usually result in some sort of quasi-research publication, and the results are representative of the the opinions of morons who are not smart enough to answer “no” (or to perhaps simply abort the simulated connection).
In the USA today, they have moved on beyond this method (of propaganda). In the Wild West, amidst the tumbleweeds, cattle and an occasional Marlboro Man, there exists a vast database of sound recordings simulating real voices of real people. They also have machines, and these contraptions call up telephone numbers and spout marketing message from the moment they get a response. Only in America! (for now …)
Are these studies, communications technology, outdoor advertising (also known as “billboards”) and such “public information”? How about the radios, tv-sets (remember those?) and the so-called daily news? Would you call these things (and their outputs) “common knowledge”? Is this commonplace?
A while back (about a decade or two ago), I quoted a song by King Crimson [3]:
“I repeat myself when under stress … I repeat myself when under stress … I repeat myself when under stress … “
King Crimson, “Indiscipline”
One of my friends (who happens to be in the advertising business) immediately remarked that this was one of his all-time favorite albums (and he is probably even more of a avid music-listener than I am). At the time, I didn’t put “2 + 2” together — but now I believe I have.
Several years ago (it was pre-Corona, I think), I called in to a radio program about a new book on the general topic of propaganda. [4] I remarked that since today everything is searchable, there is no need to repeat any “news” … and that since repetition is the non-plus-ultra of propaganda (and advertising), that therefore one very easy way to identify propaganda (and advertising) is the degree to which it is repeated. This observation set the show on fire — and there was a heated discussion between the book author (who wholeheartedly agreed with my opinion) and the so-called “moderator” (who vehemently disagreed with my point of view).
I think moving forward, one crucial publicacy skill ought to be the realisation that whenever we experience an advertisement or a piece of propaganda, that this crap is not a sign of success but rather of distress.
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