And yes, USAian hollywood films are just ~~large marketing campaigns~~ propaganda.
this post was submitted on 30 Apr 2025
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Showerthoughts
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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.
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- Both “200” and “160” are 2 minutes in microwave math
- When you’re a kid, you don’t realize you’re also watching your mom and dad grow up.
- More dreams have been destroyed by alarm clocks than anything else
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Alright, boys. Hear me out. You cut a hole on the inside of your pocket, put on your pants, then pull your penis through the hole so that it is emerging and/or hanging out of your pocket.
About a century, actually. Marketing began in the US after ~~WWII~~ WWI when we suddenly had the ability to create more products than people needed. People needed to be convinced to buy shit they didn't need, and thus marketing was invented.
The first notable marketing campaign was cigarettes for ladies in 1929. Cigarette companies were missing a whole section of consumers because women weren't supposed to smoke, especially in public. A group of beautiful young models were hired to smoke cigarettes at a big important parade that was going to get lots of coverage in the newspaper. A reporter was paid to "report" on their "carefree" and "liberated" manner as they smoked "torches of freedom" out at the festivities. Equality, feminism, yay!
Associating male virility with vehicle choice was next. Both were brain children of Sigmund Freud's nephew, Edward Bernays, who was very interested in his uncle's ideas about people's actions being influenced by their subconscious mind, before it was popular in America.
This is a four hour documentary about the social manipulation of the last century, including the above, getting young progressives to vote for Regan in the 80s and much more. Century of the Self (BBC 2002)
Marketing began in the US after WWII […].The first notable marketing campaign was […] in 1929.
🤔
Obviously B.S.
Damn. I was just about to reply the same thing. But instead of an emoji, I was going to say "Pick one!"
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[off topic?]
"The Source Of The Nile" by Avram Davidson. Science fiction short story.
Ad man is always looking for the next big thing. One day he notices some kids wearing their sneakers cut up. A few days later he realizes that the fad has exploded. He patiently tracks down where the fad started. It turns out there's one family that starts all the fads. It's never explained why or how, just that somehow these people are the ones who decide what's going to be popular for the rest of the world.
Or theatre students. They used to send them out to act weird in public to get over feeling self conscious.
Are you sure that's not just the innate weirdness of theatre students you're seeing? Especially late-night coming down off the high of a show, singing and dancing in the Denny's parking lot...🎶
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or you're just hanging out with your friends re-creating scenes from your favorite movies outside (or LARPing).
"WHATZAAAAAAAAAP!!!"
I brought fish 🐟
AND A 3D BY THOSE DAMN DUDDLEYS!!!
It could also just be the beginning of a new fad.
Fidget spinners were uncommon and kinda weird before they really took off.
Natural early adoption of a thing solely by word of mouth looks almost the same as marketing.
You think fidget spinners apparated from thin air?
Obviously not.
They're created through alchemy.
Ah, yes. That's Arabic for "The Chemy."
A lot of 'word of mouth' fads are initiated by clever marketing pretending to be word of mouth.
I don't think the "Harlem Shake" had commercial interests. Who was making money off of that?
I really should have used a better example like a tiktok dance/challenge or a meme format instead of a physical product.
Tiktok dances are generally marketing to get new songs popular. They pay the biggest channels and it snowballs from there.
Or new slang
TikTok is just an endless stream of ads
In all likelihood some of your own interests and habits were put there by a marketing department. Not because it's good or right or useful but because it profited... somebody who could afford to hire a marketing department.
Looks at Pokemon
You can take pikachu from my cold dead hands
Scalpers and "investors" are starting to fight people for the product, and they will probably pry it out of your dead hands.
Considering how rough most of the modern games are… I’m cool sticking mostly with romhacks
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I’m looking at you, Santa.
Manipulates you into going to the toy store and seeing that there is a boy's section and girl's section. And they are separate. Because there are two genders and they are in binary opposition to each other.
Marketing, propaganda, and politics is everything that you engage with all of the time. Any time you are in a group of three friends and you have to make a decision, the process by which you do it will be political in nature. The conclusion you reach will be based on the cultural context of the propaganda you were steeped in.
With this knowledge you can analyze the everyday politics and propaganda you encounter that you never even think about. You can make small changes to the politics you present and the propaganda you spread in the world. Every decision and action you take influences the people around you and all of that ripples out into the world. Something you do can inspire another person to act in a way that you would be inspired by. You may take an action and someone sees you and says "Yeah I've been feeling that, too! I was just too alone to say it, but now I know other people are out there"