LordTheNightKnight said:
"And he actually thinks marketing isn't "brainwashing" people? How cute is that! That's like saying marketing doesn't influence people's behaviour, which it clearly does. Look at these very forums and tell me marketing can't brainwash people. "
He's saying the mainstream isn't that dumb. He's actually stated the gaming enthusiasts are swept up in hype more easily. |
It's not about being dumb. Media can be used to manipulate people. There are dozens of studies that prove that. It's how the human mind works, we're thinking in groups. So if a product, idea or person has a positive imagine people will buy into it. Marketing doesn't only tell you that the product "is there", it wants to influence your view on the product. You just need to hear an opinion often enough and you'll believe it yourself.
Just look how many people believe every single word Malstrom says or how even people who don't like him act like disruption is the only thing that matters in business - why? Because Malstrom sounds convincing. That's all. They've never read a book about it. But Malstrom sounds convincing so they believe it.
Why are British people so eurosceptic while Frenchs and Germans are so positive about Europe? Because British people are "different"? Nope, it's because the media in Britain is way more eurosceptic than the media in mainland Europe. In a poll among those Britains who have a bad image of Europe more than 2/3 answered they know "very little or nothing" about the European Union. All they had was the media and they trusted the "public opinion".
If Malstrom is right about Cigarettes why does the number of smokers decrease considerably in the countries that start educational campaigns about smoking? I thought customers weren't so dumb and knew smoking was bad but they did it anyways? I think it has more to do with the fact that the tobacco industry was able to change public opinion by showing TV ads in which cool people were being cool by smoking cool cigarettes.
Why do a lot of Americans think a Health Care reform that will save them billions of dollars is bad and threatens their freedom? Because they are all political experts? Nope, because of the media and the tea parties. Because they think public opinion says so.
I could go on like that (it's quite a lot of fun to be honest) but it's a fact that the media influences our opinion and changes public perception. That's why it exists. If advertisment was only telling us that a product exists then that would also apply to political views and other things. For hundreds of years media was used by mighty people to manipulate the public opinion and keep people under control.
Just to be clear: I'm not saying Malstrom is dumb, or the English are wrong or cigarettes should be banned or the Health Care reform should be accepted. But what Malstrom says is exactly what caused this economic crisis - businessmen being unwilling to consider ethics in their actions. I actually have a very positive view of free market economy and the ability to advertise one's products and I even agree with Malstrom to a certain extend. But this very aspect is extremely important in my opinion and I think Malstrom is a bit too fast with his positive judgement: Without rules and without businessmen (who are a corner stone of our economic and political achievements) being constantly reminded that they are responsible for whatever they do these corner stones will start to crumble really fast.
And I still think you're doing a great job by stopping people from saying stupid things just because they want "their" console to win :-p Keep it up!
That's like saying marketing doesn't influence people's behaviour, which it clearly does. Look at these very forums and tell me marketing can't brainwash people. 
