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Brainwashed?

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

17:49 / 13.04.02

so, most people here wil admit to knowing a bit about branding, advertisements that over time cause you to associate certain items with specific manufacturers (kleenex, rather than facial tissue etc).
Now we all know this is bad, right?
Ok, assuming that this kinda of quasi brainwash is bad, are people like grant morrison or robert anton wilson any better?
I know, that after repeated reading of illuminatus the number 23 seems to be everywhere. It could be said that this is just me being silly and ignoring other numbers that are just as common. However, enter Grant Morrison and his ilk, who are now writing contemporary fiction, also making widespread use of the number 23.
My question is, who is to say advertising branding, designed to make money, is worse than discordian/illuminati/invisibles branding, designed to do...?

sleazenation

18:06 / 13.04.02

i think the key was saying "asuming this is bad" The skill of crafting memorable ideas (or memes as they are sometimes called) is neither good nor bad.

Utopia

18:08 / 13.04.02

maybe it's all in the intention. grafitti artists use the same tactics as billboard advertisers, but no one really connects the two. the truth is everybody, everybody is programmed to some degree, whether it be intuitive (don't drink boiling water), cognitive (structured education), self-programming, specific outside programming (parental instruction) or mass programming (social etiquate, advertising). mental programming is just a tool, and we have to understand that in the world we live in we should focus our attention on what is being broadcast and who is braodcasting it rather than the fact that messages are being broadcasted. and maybe it's a "lose/lose" situation. that's for you to decide.

Mystery Gypt

20:04 / 13.04.02

yeah, i'm not sure people agree that branding is inherently bad. we react against it as a shorthand for expressing disatisfaction with the way corporations operate. Enron is clearly bad; our government being composed of corporate oil men is a fucking atrocity; nike using sweatshops and ripping off the lower class is no good, etc. the combination of money, power, lies, and disregard for anyone's quality of life is the main driving force behind what makes corprations "bad" -- they do things normally considered criminal or at least amoral but thrive in a system that encourages them and gives them special rights.

one must be careful not to let these real world criticism get lost in a lot of overly theoretical concern about memes and images. Robert Wilson's 23 is not responsible for drilling in alaska, putting families out of business, or colluding with the cia to depose governments.

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