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Exposed! The Ulterior Motive

Published By: John on 02/17/13
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The doorbell rings.
You ask, “Who are you?”
The visitor sounds sincere as he says, “I’d appreciate a few minutes of your time.” But you know that voice. It’s a salesman. However friendly and warm that voice seems, you will not open your heart. Your heart remains closed, and so does the door.
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Advertising is just like that uninvited guest.?@It is obvious that the smile in its voice is a way to sell you something.
There is no form of expression in which the ulterior motive is more completely obvious than mass-media advertising. Isn’t this come to think of it, a shameful way to behave?
Advertising, if nothing else, is a form of communication that starts from this negative position. The ulterior motive is obvious.
Note, too, that the more cleverly the visitor speaks, the more that voice sets off warning bells. A salesman who speaks too smoothly reveals the technique with which he hopes to close the sale.
We all know the type who stares intently at you and tells you, “You have to buy this,” singing the praises of his product. Does anyone really expect to move a customer’s heart that way? They must. If we examine the TV commercials and newspaper ads with which we are constantly being bombarded, too many use this feeble approach.
Food product ads say, “This is delicious.” Car ads say, “This is comfort.” Ads for TV sets say, “Great image quality.” But if statements like these were effective, there would be no demand for experts in advertising expression. The client’s advertising managers could write this stuff themselves, and save themselves the creative fees they pay for advertising skill. It is unbelievable,  in a world where competition is so severe, that companies still choose this naive strategy and expect people to buy their shares or what they sell.

From Nakahata Takashi 2008 Want everybody to love you, everybody will hate you. pp. 13-15

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Next entry: Seduced into Buying, It Sounds Familiar

Previous entry: Want everyone to love you, everyone will hate you (Everything you need to know about successful advertising, vol. 1)

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