advertising

[genkaku]

I was looking at another Buddhist site, one with a bunch of advertising attached, and it made me think how suspicious anyone might be of advertising. Everyone over the age of consent has been fooled in the past by advertising of one kind or another. And yet our suspicions do not seem to be enough to stop the endless flow of advertising.

Abraham Lincoln, the American president, once observed, "You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time." I guess this is the basis for a lot of advertising: You don't have to trick everyone in order to make money.

Our natural suspicions rest on experience: The words may be outstanding, but the product doesn't match up with the words. And sometimes I think the same thing is true in our lives: Good, bad or indifferent, we talk about (whether to ourselves or others) the product that is "me." And yet no matter how hard we try, the advertising and the product seldom match up. Oh, I am so happy! Oh, I am so sad! Oh, I am a Democrat! Oh, I am a Republican! Oh, I am a Christian! Oh, I am a Buddhist!

I guess we're stuck with the farm -- gotta check out the product itself and not worry so much about the advertising.

Just noodling.

[retrofuturist]

Greetings Genkaku,

I prefer informative advertising, which actually provides people with information about the supply of particular goods and services... as opposed to persuasive advertising, which simply attempts to ratchet up demand for said products through deceptive means.

For example, I prefer the simple informative advertisement in your signature to any advertisement for any beauty products I've ever seen. It informs the market rather than attempting to artificially create market demand for products that otherwise would not exist.

Metta,
Retro.

[floating_abu]

Without advertising, would there be Buddhism?

[LuzdelaLuna]

Interesting...this is something I have recently been experiencing.

For me, saying I am this or that sounds so hollow. What do I DO? I'd rather let my actions speak for me.

When it comes to others, in instances where I felt the strong urge to jump up and down, especially when they where doing wrong, and point out how badly they are behaving...I have finally come to realize they will advertsie (reveal) themselves all on their own...without my intervention.

How about another old adage..."Actions speak louder than words."

Also, a simple way to figure out if anyone is not BS'ing is to ask..."Do their words and actions match?" This does well when examining whether the advertising for the cleaning cloth that will save your life for only $19.95 is for real or whether someone's words when they are trying to sell you themselves.

[Jechbi]

Good, bad or indifferent, we talk about (whether to ourselves or others) the product that is "me." And yet no matter how hard we try, the advertising and the product seldom match up. Oh, I am so happy! Oh, I am so sad! Oh, I am a Democrat! Oh, I am a Republican! Oh, I am a Christian! Oh, I am a Buddhist!

An interesting thing about this is that a lot of people sell themselves short. We market ourselves to ourselves, but the message can be all over the board, yet somehow, we always buy it.

We now return to our regularly scheduled program ...