-----Original Message-----
From: fran^don <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: November 23, 1998 7:49 PM
Subject: Re: Caordic change and the Story
<snip>
>
>My thought is that the time for philosophy and navel gazing is past, and we
>should think more of marketing strategies. That is, marketing and
packaging
>of information and ideas in ways which resonate with the general the public
>and gives them something to by into. Jay's web page is great for people
who
>want a hit of reality from time to time - but then what? There no plan, no
>movement. Surely a collective group could do more. There is a vast build
up
>of collective human intelligence and tools, virtually none of which has
been
>put to use against the problematique in a cognitive intentional fashion
with
>a stratigic plan.
>
>Don Chisholm
>
An opinion I heartily endorse. I've been thinking for some time about what I
call the propaganda problem. Why do the bad guys invariably do a better job
of marketing than the good guys?
(1) One important reason is that they have more money and hire capable
marketing people.
(2) Even more importantly, the good guys (environmentalists, social
activists, etc,) simply don't think about marketing. They have become
passionate about an issue after reading the facts, and they assume other
people will too. It ain't so. (Most people lack the time and consuming
interest to plough through a whole host of articles and become true
believers on the issue of averting environmental catastrophe. They've read
or heard about these matters and at the time think something should be done
about it, but they are easily distracted by other issues as when some
politician comes along promising jobs and tax cuts.) Activists generally use
two approaches: the barrage of facts and what I call the Pavlov fallacy. The
barrage of facts doesn't work because most people haven't done the reading
in a particular field (be it economics or environment) to absorb the facts
and be affected by them. By the Pavlov fallacy I mean that some particular
key word has become very charged with emotion for the activist (say, "global
warming") because he has built up all sorts of associations with it. He
unconsciously assumes that it will have the same emotional impact on others,
but it is only a secondary stimulus (like the bell which signaled food for
Pavlov's dogs) and has no impact on those who have not gone through the same
conditioning.
Activists have to start studying how to use popular culture to put their
message across. It doesn't necessarily have to be fantastically expensive.
There was an interesting discussion recently on Internet Pacifica Radio at
http://www.webactive.com/ on the use of media in the upset victory of Jesse
"The Body" Ventura in Minnesota. Apparently his TV commercials used kids
playing with a Jesse Ventura action figure (which had been cobbled together
from three other action figures) and people were going into stores trying to
buy it. He also placed his TV spots at times when people would be watching
their favourite programs rather than following the six o' clock news as all
his opponents were doing.
I hope there's some food for thought here.
Victor Milne
FIGHT THE BASTARDS! An anti-neoconservative website
at http://www3.sympatico.ca/pat-vic/pat-vic/
LONESOME ACRES RIDING STABLE
at http://www3.sympatico.ca/pat-vic/
