Tag Archives: advertising

Persuasion Beneath the Radar

I find it interesting that the below video promotes manipulation of people as ethical. At no point is one advised to reason with vulnerability and openness; to provide people with more than one side of an argument; or to rely on … Continue reading

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Finger Tutting: From Dorm Room Horsing Around to the Corporate Big Time

In Western culture, Egypt seems to be the best place to trace lithe, high glamour, iconic posing, and so it seems fitting that a certain style of freeze frame dancing would be dubbed as “tutting” (as in “King Tut” or … Continue reading

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A clever ad worth seeing

This ad demonstrates the ways in which people at once reveal and conceal their physical traits and personas  to others online: Who are you, really?

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Conspiracy Bait: Greenscreens are Everywhere—and Maybe Even Coming to the News

You certainly couldn’t fake a moon landing in 1969, but I suppose that, with contemporary technology, you might almost get away with it today. In the future, will government and corporate officials—and those in our assorted propaganda industries—start using the greenscreen technology below to … Continue reading

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A Great Critical Thinking Quote from Groucho Marx

Watching Animal Crackers last night, a line of Groucho’s jumped out at me as the voice of all people possessed of a vested interest in producing and maintaining a culture hostile to critical thinking (which, of course, is damn near everybody): Once we … Continue reading

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In Greek Mythology, Who is Peitho?

Peitho is the goddess of rhetoric, persuasion, and seduction, and in ancient depictions, she tends to accompany Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Why Aphrodite? Because it is by artful and pretty words that your rational defenses—especially against love—are overcome and conquered (as in Gorgias’s “Encomium for … Continue reading

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I Like This British Ad

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Atheist Optimism vs. Atheist Pessimism: The Case of Thomas Hardy

Contemporary post-9/11 New Atheists are so, well, sunny, aren’t they? Perhaps it’s a product of our contemporary advertising culture, but it’s hard to distinguish this American atheist bus ad from a Mentos breath mint commercial: Minty and refreshing? As an … Continue reading

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The Last Daily Newspaper in the United States?

Kevin Drum at Mother Jones makes a prediction: I’ll stick with 2025 for now.  There may be small local papers around for longer than that, but no big city dailies.  New York will be the last to go, but in … Continue reading

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Halloween is Almost Here!

Wow!

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Levi’s Abusing Walt Whitman?

I think I dislike this use of Walt Whitman. It feels like a debasement of his poetry—like using the Bible or the Bhagavad Gita to sell soda. And what’s up with the Leni Riefenstahl vibe and the fascist salutes (one toward the … Continue reading

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I Love this Penn & Teller Segment on Bottled Water

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The GOP’s Got Game? Republican Michael Steel Makes a Hip Hop Play for the Urban Youth Vote!

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Maybe I Do Want Popcorn

Do subliminal flashings of images (like a popcorn box on a theater screen) work afterall? For years, we’ve been told “probably not.” Now there are researchers saying, “maybe so.” Not sure what to make of this, but an article on subliminal messages … Continue reading

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“The VET Who Did Not VET”: See Here The Second Most Amazing Ad of This Campaign Season

I still think this is first: And here’s a poll for you to render your own judgment:

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McCain Flip-Flop: He Promised to Not Take the “Low Road” to the Presidency, But Now He’s Decided He Can’t Win Any Other Way, And Is Using Rovian Lies at Every Turn

Here’s the most effective Obama ad I’ve seen:

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Turn Me on Ad Man: A Great Book on the Dark Arts of Persuasion

The book, Age of Progaganda: The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion (Holt 2001), attempts to demystify propaganda and the persuasion process, and it does so in a scholarly, fluid, and engaging manner. The authors, Anthony Pratkanis and Elliot Aronson, walk … Continue reading

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“That Powerful Instrument of Error and Deceit”: John Locke on the Dark, Spell-Casting Art of Rhetoric—and What It Means for Us Today

Rhetoric, the art of persuasion, is like alcohol. It can be used responsibly, but too frequently it’s not, and so it has a dodgy reputation, and deservedly so. It shows up in too many places that you wouldn’t want to … Continue reading

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Poison in the Ear: Shakespeare, Karl Rove, and Barack Obama

A theme in Shakespeare’s plays is poison poured into the ear—from Iago going around whispering his poisons into the ears of the characters in Othello, to Lady Macbeth and the Weird Sisters arousing the lusts of Macbeth for power. In Hamlet, Claudius … Continue reading

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