Thursday, October 18, 2012

Advertising love


The human mind tends to be rather forgetful, hence we need reminders of what to do and how to live. But unfortunately we are being reminded of the wrong things...

It’s no secret that our society is ruled by profit. Much of what we see around us is designed so that we keep on buying things for the sake of buying. Most CEO’s and marketing agencies don’t care if you are happy or not; all that they are interested in is to sell their products.

Not surprisingly, TV commercials and billboards send out constant messages that remind us to consume more. They suggest that we are lacking something, that we need to get a new car and the new ipad or else we will feel unsatisfied. A desire is created which soon becomes irresistible – crisis or not, on most days the parking at shopping malls is full.

Imagine a world in which profit was not the highest goal in life. Imagine there was space for different kinds of advertisment. Opening the online newssite in the morning, you might be reminded that, “if you go shopping today, remember to take a bag from home”; you scroll down and see a big banner, “Smile! It could be the best day of your life!” Then you leave the house and a bus passes by, bright letters on it saying that “Cyling rules! It’s better for you and the planet.” After lunch you switch on the TV and just before the 3 o’clock news you watch a three minute long promotion for a new ethical bank that invests in organic farms and solar energy projects. When you come home at night you read your favourite magazine and on the second page there’s an ad talking about the importance of eating a healthy diet. On page fifteen only two words are printed: “Live now!” And so on…

Imagine what kind of world we would be living in. Imagine what each one of us would feel like if we were constantly reminded of good things.

You might think that this is a utopia, that it’s not possible. But the question is: why shouldn’t it be possible? Why can’t we live in harmony with the enviroment and in peace with each other? Why can’t we change and make the world a truly beautiful place? Who says we can’t?

True, right now it’s impossible to change the profit-driven commercial ads that we are surrounded by. But what we can do is to make publicity ourselves. We can post positive affirmations on facebook; send good news by email; wear t-shirts with meaningful messages; have a coexist sticker on our car; put on a happy smile…

We could become human billboards, advertising love!