The Persuaders

I’m persuaded.  I know it and my financials testify to it.  My trash man can testify to it.  Watching The Persuaders was a little like being told why my wealth is often squandered and I have an endless supply of worthless barely used 1D trash going out of my house – and worse yet why I can’t do much to stop it.

I’m a constant purveyor of products, most of which I purchase because of some strange attachment or feeling - for an intangible substance, taste or emotional connection.  Marketing is what they call it and this film exposed a world that is much larger, and much more sinister than I ever could have imagined.  

They once marketed eugenics in America and the techniques used to sell the final solution have molded well to selling my family useless items and overpriced products that have the correct symbol establishing our place in society.

I have often wondered if my ability to independently choose consumables is chosen for me long before I make a choice, or even realized I needed toilet paper.  Funny how the film eluded to predictive efforts and now Amazon tells me that they are going to predict my needs and send the crap I consume before I know I need it.  That’s okay for Kuerig cups, but maybe not pregnancy tests.

Worse yet is an endless amount of marketing efforts directed exclusively toward my children and in terms that make it very difficult to properly communicate parent to kid.  Increasingly desperate advertising firms now exponentially increase the lengths they will take to grab the attention of my children – who of course will beg and pester for the items they “believe” they need.  These products grace my home and remind me of just how short the career of a Disney or Nick star is these days, as an endless array of “celebutard” products are discarded for the next tween flavor.  Hanna Montana and I-Carly just departed, only to be replaced by the next five minute flavor – and Bob Iger needs my cash to maintain the lifestyle he has become accustomed to.

Disney just ended Shake it Up in October and now Bella Thorne is “slutting it up” over at Candie’s and my 9 year old daughter will run like the wind to the Candie’s section at Kohls.  Lucky me and thank you “Dis-Nicky” for maximizing profits on the backs of my kids - and the backs of all those Chinese workers who continue to roll out paper thin shirts and lead poisoned plasticy thingys.  Hell Bob over at Disney is so cool he killed two birds with one stone by having kids make the toys they should later consume.

In the end, The Persuaders was a disgusting look in the mirror that makes me glad I never joined Friend Face or spent much time with any online persona.  If the persuaders know this much about me from simple financial statements and known purchases, what would they know if I willingly blabbed it all?