My son used to believe advertising. He was very little at the time. He would come up to me and say things like, “we should buy this brand, because it — and he’d quote verbatum from the T.V. commercial.” Being a good parent, I’d take the opportunity to teach him the wisdom that I’d learned over the years — never trust advertising.
Over time, I guess he’s learned. Slowly. It’s a difficult process. He occasionally comes to me with something that’s pulled from an advert, but a lot less frequently. Eventually, he’ll learn not to trust the ads at all. He’ll be just like me.
And that’s a shame.
Why? I was thinking about that this week when I was giving my lecture to my marketing class. I tried to point out to them that I wanted them to be critical and not cynical. There is a real distinction. Continue reading
Change the game... 