Privacy from whom?

[Ralph Cohen]

On Sat, 05 Aug 2000 18:01:52 -0400 (EDT), Rodney R. Korte wrote:

>People with whom I discuss this almost always say "Oh,
>I don't care what they know" or something like that.
>Seems to me, once you know enough about someone,
>manipulation is not far behind.  Think about what products
>you buy, and then think about what commercials or
>advertisements you like.  Be honest- there's a correlation.
>Need something that you've never bought before?  There's
>a good chance you'll think of the brand you saw an ad for.

Not necessarily.  I like the Taco Bell commercials with the little dog
but I've never even been to a Taco Bell.  I like the new Red Lobster
seafood-eating-seafood commercial too, but I ate there once and I'd
never go back.  The Mountain Dew commercials are great but I prefer
root beer.  And, as much as I may like the Victorias Secret commercials
I have never, ever been the slightest bit tempted to buy any of their
underwear.<g>

>One doesn't need to extrapolate very far to see that this
>is a form of "brainwashing".  I mean, jeez, don't people
>notice that the ads that show up when web browsing are almost
>always in an interest area of theirs?  This isn't coincidence.

By the time my daughter was 4 years old she was able to recognize
advertising fluff and crude attempts at manipulation in advertisements,
commercials and children's programs.  I'm pretty confident, in fact,
that anyone with an IQ of 90 or above is able to successfully resist
this insidious form of "brainwashing" you describe.

>Do I even need to bring up blatant examples of suggestive
>manipulation like Hitler?

No, please don't.

Ralph Cohen


rpcohen@neurotron.com