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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
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged advertising, critical thinking, Freud, persuasion, propaganda, psychology, reason, social psychology
1 Comment
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?
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged ads, advertising, Buddhism, Camille Paglia, emptiness, masks, monsters, persona, the Internet
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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
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged advertising, conspiracy, conspiracy bait, conspiracy theories, Fox News, greenscreen, media, moon landing, predictions, propaganda, the future
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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
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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Tagged advertising, Albert Camus, atheism, atheist, Christmas, God, jerry coyne, literature, poetry, psychology, PZ Myers, thomas hardy
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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
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 2025, advertising, America, death, internet, life, media, news, newspapers
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Halloween is Almost Here!
Wow!
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Tagged 1973, advertising, eros, film, Halloween, horror, thanatos, the exorcist
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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
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged advertising, fascism, levis, marketing, pioneers, poems, poetry, propaganda, romanticism, Walt Whitman
2 Comments
I Love this Penn & Teller Segment on Bottled Water
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Tagged advertising, bottled water, bullshit, environment, fitness, health, penn & teller, reason, science, skepticism
2 Comments
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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Tagged advertising, communications, cults, Hitler, media, Politics, propaganda, religion, rhetoric, Santi Tafarella
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