Re: boycott makeup?

Harvey Newstrom (newstrom@newstaffinc.com)
Wed, 10 Feb 1999 09:46:17 -0500

Anders Sandberg <asa@nada.kth.se> writes:

> Not to mention optimism and positive memes. Have you noted the quite
> transhuman ads for big corporations on CNN and Discovery? Slogans like
> "Let's make things better", celebrations of technology and human
> ingenuity (often done in a very characteristic surreal style), and my
> favorite:
>
> We move because we hate the idea of standing still.
> We create because we want something new in our life.
> We take the next step because we want to rise above.
> This is our mission, this is our passion.
> Daewoo Corporation

Ack! I *hate* these kinds of ads. This kind of content-free verbiage is becoming the new double-speak, along with "integrity" and "quality" programs. The are the new buzz words that can't be measured, and make the customer feel good without really saying anything or offering anything.

Take the above example, for example. I still don't know what they're selling. I just feel like it must be good whatever it is. The boils down to "Trust us, we're doing the right thing for *you*!" This is psychological persuasion without product competition. This is asking me to choose their company without the information to do so. What do they create? What can we rise above? What is their mission?

The reason that these memes sound so positive is because your subconscious fills in the lack of details and you think it totally agrees with your extropian position. A white supremacist Klu Klux Klan member would probably thing that those words apply to him. The words mean nothing.

-- 
Harvey Newstrom <http://newstaffinc.com>
Author, Consultant, Engineer, Hacker, Researcher, Scientist.