rivero@dev8a.mdcbbs.com (05/08/91)
Dear Netlanders. I have gotten quite a bit of mail since my posting regarding implants used solely for vanity sake. I have also gotten some mail for other postings regarding the confusion of signals in social situations. My point was not to assign any kind of blame but to make the statement that if you dress up like an Ice Cream Seller, don't be surprised if someone asks you for an Ice Cream. Rather than try to answer all the mail seperatly (much as I would like to), I am going to post the following little story that illustrates the concerns I was trying to make. I hope that this will stimulate some thought at what may be a major cause of confusion. Please read all the way to the END before flaming. Thanks. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The Dimple Wash Story In the beginning, a not-so-famous scientist invented a new type of soap. It wasn't much better than any other soap, but it wasn't much worse. It was, however, different enough from other soaps that the company where the scientist worked decided to market the new soap. After much debate by marketing experts, the new soap was named "Dimple Wash", although the soap would work just as well on hair, feet, or the family dog. The company hired a famous Hollywood Director to make a commercial. The Director called up 100 actors and actresses to audition. These actors and actresses were very good looking, as that was their profession, and what they worked on all the time. The Director selected the prettiest girl and the handsomest man to star in the commercial from all the pretty girls and handome men who had come to Hollywood from all over. And he made the commercial. The Director first showed the girl in a dumpy dress, frizzy hair, and bad lighting. He showed that she was sad and lonely, and could not get a date with the handome man. The Director then showed the pretty girl using Dimple Wash. The Director then showed the pretty girl, in a new dress, new hair and nails, with good lighting ( Keylights AND Kickers), going out on a date with the handsome man in an expensive car(which is rented from the prop company). CUT TO...... An average town in an Average county in the middle of an Average state. Behind a desk at the local bank sits a girl. She is not the prettiest girl, but she is pretty. She works at the bank. That is her profession, and that is what she works on all the time. The girl is sad and lonely, because she cannot get a date with the not-the-handomest-but-still-handsome man who sits at the desk across the floor. So the girl goes home, turns on her television. She sees the commercial with the prettiest girl. She watches the prettiest girl use Dimple Wash, and go out on a date with the handomest man in an expensive car. So the bank girl goes to the store to buy Dimple Wash. After all, it's not expensive, and she can always use a cleaner face. The bank girl uses Dimple Wash, and her face becomes squeaky clean. And she is still not the prettiest but pretty. But deep inside this girl (as there is in all of us) there is a part that believes in "sympathetic Magic". This is the part that believes that wearing the skin of a Leopard will bring strength, or that using a tennis racket with the Wimbledon champions name on it will add to our game. This part believes that using Dimple Wash has turned the pretty girl into the prettiest girl. So, the pretty girl goes back to the bank, and starts hanging around the desk of the handsome man. The handome man notices the increase in attention and asks the pretty girl out. That evening, the girl is waiting for her date with the handome man. That part of her that believes she has become the prettiest girl is now waiting for the handomest man to drive up in the expensive car. When only the handsome man drives up in his average car, that part of the pretty girl is already disappointed! The handsome man, who just last week started wearing "Whiplash" cologne has some part of him that has become the "ruggedest man", and is hoping that he is going to spend the evening with the "real woman". And that part of him is disappointed. So the pretty girl and the handsome man go out for a date in his average car, filled with unreal expectations and standards the other cannot hope to meet. They spend the evening looking for the people the commercials promised, instead of seeing the person that is really there. And they are disappointed. And they stop dating. And they rush to the store to try another cologne, or another soap, hoping that things will get better the next time. Hoping that the next date will be with the "handomest man" (in the expensive car) or the "real woman". And they do it over and over and over again, trying to be the prettiest girl and the handomest man, forgetting that there is nothing inherently wrong in being an average pretty girl or an average handsome man, and that average cars get good mileage and are dependable. -------------------------------------------------------------- Before the flamers start, let me tell you that I have worked in TV advertising for many years. I've won 5 Clio awards, which indicates I know a little about the subject. (Note that I no longer do commercials) I realize that the above is over-simplified, and that most people will deny overtly being suckered into such a clear sham. The point is that it is not so clear in the real world of advertising and marketing. The studies which have been done indicate that this kind of selling DOES work, or the clients would not spend upwards of $500,000 for a 30 second commercial, and even more when a celebrity is used. Nor would such corporations pay celebrity endorsers millions of dollars if the sales of endorsed products did not soar once the name went on. It is not my intent to debate the wisdom of psychological/motivational lures in advertising. My concern is that the continued use of such tactics to sell personal image products has created a society of individuals that value external "purchasable" esteen at the same time they devalue themselves. I realize this does not apply to absolutly everyone. There are many people who are perfectly happy with themselves, and wear the minimum cosmetics/fashions as required by current tribal custom. But they are a minority. The rest, I fear, are being taken advantage of! We will not stop advertising, nor should we. Advertising serves other purposes, that of educating the consumer. There are many commercials which do not use motivational psychology to achieve their sales. And, after all, it is the commercials that pay for ALL of television. Television sells YOU. That is televisions business; to hold you in front of the commercial. What we can do is learn to differentiate our own priorities and values from those supplied to us by the box in the living room, which, after all, will teach us to value those things we can pay money for, and to ignore things life gives us for free. Hope this clarifies where my head is at. Michael