Eric's take parses well with the prescient observation of Bill Bernbach, one of the granddaddies of American advertising, that you don't sell nothin' to nobody. Instead you labor to create what he called "environments to buy," wherein consumers feel comfortable exercising their consumer prerogatives.
Control of any sort is of course a popular commodity -- however we secure it -- in a world where we control so little of what actually matters in our lives, and thus I agree with the basic marketing premise forwarded by Messrs. Picard and Bernbach.
The essence of control, however, and the cornerstone attribute of freedom, is the choice to opt or tune out, the option to say "no," an option increasingly exercised by consumers as evidenced by the rapid adoption of ad-blocking and time-shifting technologies, not to mention the reactive fury and consternation of marketing and advertising professionals whose jobs just got a whole lot tougher.
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We are enmeshed in internal conflict: Our primary emotional escape route - our obsession with and addiction to the media -- has become a gilded cage that we now seek and pay good money to escape, or at least turn off for a few moments. Our digital communications technologies - e-mail, voicemail, and cell phones - have evolved into our primary lines of first defense, consistent with the bittersweet humor in an old Jewish joke:
Question: What's the first thing an observant Jew stranded on a desert isle does? Answer: Build two synagogues. Question: Why two synagogues? Answer: So he has one that he doesn't choose to go to.
It seems to me that what we truly long for in this world is not control at all, but for the exact opposite: a safe place to let go, to relinquish control. We settle for control only in lieu of a viable alternative. What, after all, is the real point of building two synagogues? Not so much for the control that comes with the ability to say no to one, but for the renewed freedom, security, and succor that comes with the act of prayer in the other.
The media industry is now betting the farm on technologies and strategies that emphasize our ability to say no and tune out - a wholly predictable addictive behavior. The problem is that we are doing so without consideration or accommodation of the endangered alternative: the safe place to tune in. (Also a wholly predictable addictive behavior.) The escalating path of addiction always isolates us more and offers fewer alternative behaviors en route.
We have indeed built two synagogues. But soon, the only one left standing may be the one nobody wants to attend. Meanwhile, our desire and ability to cut loose and be free is smothered by the only thing offered at the remaining synagogue: the myth of control. Your thoughts?
Many thanks, as always, and best to you and yours...
Please note: The Einstein's Corner discussion group at http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/einsteinscorner/ is dedicated to exploring the adverse effects of our addictions to technology and media on the quality of our lives, both at work and at home. Please feel free to drop by and join the discussion.