I have been noticing how easily we are drug into the emotional world of marketing. Yes I said emotional. Have you ever noticed that the way marketing companies get your vote/money/whatever is by inflicting unneeded emotion? Take the hand soap I have.... Now I do Yoga... nothing special there I am not really even good at it. But the beauty of the culture from which Yoga emerged and was developed is exploited at all times with in the "American Yoga Market". We are consistantly driven by the emotional force of our desire to be more at peace with outselves and our world, so we reach toward what others have done... because of course what we are doing (as a culture at large) does not work. BUT, as Americans, we could not just use the same simple things they use, we have to have "blocks", and "wedges" (which of course are BRIGHT colors), the right Yoga oils, and the right Yoga magazine... and we have to have a bag for our blocks, mats, wedges, etc, and Yoga magazine with Kanji on it. I love kanji. I think it is, by far and away, the most beautiful writing on the planet, the beauty of it actually brings upon an emotional responce in me. It makes English (especially in my handwriting) look like second grade chicken scratch. BUT why would they sell a HAND SOAP with kanji on it... (see I told you this was about my hand soap) Does the kanji symbol say soap? NO... it says Trader Joes, in as closely as they could get with in Kanji characters. And the worse offence is the name of the line of soaps that my hand soap belongs to... E-Zen-cials... WTF? The other name on the line is "Trader Zen".

Now, I really enjoy shopping at Trader Joes... I go about 45 miles one way to shop there because of their selection of non-toxic food treats and their organic meat for decent prices... but this **** is starting to drive me nuts. Does it make me refrain from buying it? No, of course not... because I would rather support a store that is exploiting characters and culture than support a store that exploits people. It is the lesser of two evils. "Trader Guittos" bothers me too... why is it we feel the need to make fun of culture to pacify the masses?

val i read this and I am cracking up. i think you are totally right. There is a commerciual for an SUV (toyota? maybe) where the mom is talking about how she has to take her kids someplace, drop the cleaning off and go to yoga. Yoga is very in right now.

And along the same lines...why can I not buy a plain old cotton t shirt for my dd? I don't want a GAP, Abercrombie, Gymbo, any of that. Just a plain old, affordable plain colored t shirt.

I actually have bought things from Geranimals (the walmart brand) from my local goodwill that hold up fine, and they have very nutral things on them. The one that I can think of has a helicopter on it... it is maroon with blue sleves... it is really cute. So although I won't get them from walmart, getting them from Goodwill apeals to me because they do not have a big name brand across the tit line... I hate that. Marketing pisses me off. But at the same time, my son is 7, and everyone (I have heard this more than once) has clothes with "stuff" on it... so I have given in. I do not support co's by buying new clothes, but I will pick up a Big Dog t-shirt, Superman, (even Poke'Mon) or a Spiderman shirt if it is under $2 at Goodwill. No one ever knows the difference. I have gotten slack for getting my kids used shoes constantly... but I bought Cyan a pair of little Hello Kitty shoes just two weeks ago... and they look used already, I mean really. So what was the point of spending $14 instead of $4? I don't know... I am still trying to figure that one out. ;)

Love Val

I KWYM. This marketing crap gets on my nerves.

For example, we have a new Kohl's store that has just opened in Modesto. Every day for the past week there has been something in the mail about it. Coupons for this, %%% off for that. Blah, Blah, Blah.

I was in the area of the new store on Friday when they had their Grand Opening (they actually had been open all week) and intentionally did not go in because, well, I didnt *need* anything. I just felt so sad about all the people who were going there, throwing away their $$$, on stuff they do not need.
:rolleyes:

I've been a market research programmer for about 20 years now (I started when I was like 10!!!! LOL) and a very large portion of my clients over the years have been ad agencies. Far and away, most of my clients have 1 of 2 majors -- statistics (for obvious reasons) or Psychology. And most of them have a Psych undergrad degree with a Stat Masters or PhD. Marketing is ALL about psychology and has next to nothing to do with the actual merits of the product. Lots of studies that I do for emergent products (products that have already been developed, and are just starting to hit the market) are about 10% product related and the remaining 90% is buying habits, demographics and psychological batteries. Basically, they know what their product can do, now they need to get it into as many households as possible. And not just the households that NEED it -- but every household that they can possibly sell it too. From a marketing standpoint -- if you can open up a different segment of the population for your product you stand to make millions.

Marketing is a science at this point. For me personally, even though I often feel a bit slimy about what I do (I hate supporting all that), it really makes me cynical when it comes to advertising. Once you know the game, it helps you not to play it.