The Persuaders

"The Persuaders" begins by questioning the increase in the amount of advertising we typically encounter in our daily lives. How would you assess the amount of advertising you see? Too much? Too little? Just right? In your view, what difference does it make to know that people today see much more advertising in their daily lives than people 20 or 30 years ago?

In my opinion, advertising has reached new heights the last couple decades. Anywhere you go, you are being bombarded by advertisements. What makes this difficult is the emotional aspect that marketers have attached to products or services. A TV commercial promoting a vacation to Jamaica doesn't just tell you how beautiful the place is, it tells you that you'll fall in love when you go there. An advertisement for a MacBook won't tell you how efficient the machine is. Instead, you are being told that you can recreate yourself when you use it. I feel like advertising hasn't even really evolved; rather it has reverted back to a place where the real tangible or intangible purpose for the product or service is forgotten. In The Persuaders, TiVo was introduced as a way to eliminate TV commercials altogether. As a result, advertisements are no longer reaching the people who use it.

Where are things headed in the future? What are some possible scenarios that could play out as far as the direction that future persuaders may take their marketing techniques.

I think that in the future, advertisers will continue to reach the public through movies and TV shows. Because of products like TiVo, advertising will strictly turn into product placement. So instead of a commercial for Crest toothpaste, a character in a show may brush his or her teeth with Crest. This also sends a subliminal message to viewers; they will end up associating their favorite character in a show to Crest, therefore having an emotional connection to that brand of toothpaste.