For those interested. This was the full list of the original ad tally from a 90 minutes MAFS segment:
Pepsi. KFC. Subway, eat. UberEats. Doordash, again. Activia, the good yoghurt. VB beer, wash it down. Cellarbrations, drink more. Youi insurance, in case it all goes wrong. Juniper diet program, fix it right after the KFC and Pepsi. Moisturisers. Iron supplements, repair the body you just ran through the loop. Pet parasite protection, keep something alive at least. Domain app, take on more debt. Nick Scali furniture clearance, fill the house. Big W, $29 vacuum cleaner, replace it when it breaks. Square POS system, keep the transactions moving. Vic government urgent care, you'll need it. Vanish washing powder. Clean it all. Unknown car brand, KIA, more SUVs. Move faster. Go further. Big 4 Holiday Parks, escape. A game show trailer, feel something upstairs. Ladbrokes bets, waste more money. Ryobi, make yourself useful. Chemist Warehouse vitamin C, sugarless, Pff...! Back to the body. Back to the loop. Harvey Norman sale. Again. KFC again. I had to cut them short for the published version of this essay.
Thank you Magnus, you've hit the nail on the head. Erosive impact. We're sliding down the slippery slope if we're not aware of where the machine is dragging us.
Anliette, the depth you go to.. I never know where to start with one of your essays. You've opened what others only ever discussed on the surface. 🙌🏼 No one has talked about this as generational, at least not the way you've dissected it. Which also means it'll take generations to UNDO! As a mother, the Manila boy is the section that broke me. We inherit the noise and we pass it down. Most of us aren't even told what's being passed down. The work you're doing isn't only documenting what's been done to us. It's about what we pass on, and what we don't have to. Sharing this! X
Exactly! The cycle took generations to put us here. It will take generations to go back to where we should be. It starts with us, changing our habits by practicing Rare Attention, then passing that on to our children. Thank you for seeing my work with such a meticulous eye. Axx
I read this twice now. Not sure where to begin with this mountain of a problem we've created. Most of my working life assumes attention is something to capture as efficiently as possible. I don't usually let myself think about what's on the other side of that.
The line that got me was that the machine didn't sell to the depleted, it created them. Of course it did. The same playbook pharma ran, and the food industry before us. I've watched teams, mine included, call that "reducing friction." We tell ourselves we're making things easier. What you're describing is what easier actually costs, and who pays for it. All I know is that we have work to do, responsibilities we've been avoiding and/or ignoring for too long.
Amazon makes it soooo easy to buy from. I have to stop and ask myself if I really need this or can I use something I already have to fulfil this need. The latter, while not as sexy as the former, is usually the honest choice : )
That’s good Liza. The more I dig into Amazon as a company, the more I avoid them. Chapter 9 will reveal more things that are directly affecting artists and indie stores like us. It’s unacceptable, and frankly criminal.
Fascinating article, as always. I remember returning to Belgium, after 3 weeks in America, with friends, almost handed from home to home. I came home destroyed, and that wasn't about my friends, they were so kind. I was destroyed by all the advertising I had been exposed to. I don't take pharmaceuticals, I have never worn a heart monitor for a month, I don't believe in annual medical checks - just a couple of examples of common stories I had heard from those people I talked to over there.
I came home quite shaken by this feeling, a kind of panic, that I was taking nothing, meanwhile, all of my friends on 'stuff', all of the tv, radio and magazine advertising I had been exposed to, had climbed inside my head and created some kind of panic and despair, that I was so exposed. Just me and my body.
And Belgium, after the sumptuousness of America - beds, carpets, homes, and all that food, Antwerp seemed like a city and a culture emerging from a long war, and much deprivation. It took me a while to recover my balance. I prefer less. I have an almost advertising free life.
Like you, I prefer foreign movies, documentaries and etc but to really depress myself, I sometimes check out the Top 10 on New Zealand's Netflix. It's truly terrifying.
Thank you for sharing this Di. I felt the same about the advertising in the States too! It IS terrifying, and so wrong on all counts. You can tell a lot about the state of a country by what's most watched, much like the Netflix Top 10. That's where The Majority 'lives'.
Oh, and don't get me started about pharmaceuticals… I'm sure I'm only scratching the surface of the issues we're all facing.
By the way, have you watched 'Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy' yet? I'm so glad you're here! Axx
Thank you. I've opened it on Netflix. The Netflix I left then returned to, missing my foreign movies. I used to have access to an Italian account, replacing it with a NZ one has almost broken my heart.
Pharmaceuticals ... same page I suspect.
I've opened 'Buy Now!' but don't know if I'll have the strength to watch it. I stepped away from tv viewing years ago, needing to control what I was exposed to. And have long-held a 'won't buy if I find it on an advertisement'. I tend to shop for just what I need, impervious to sales and adverts on things I don't need. And then clothes are generally secondhand, simply because it opens up a whole other world that is within budget :-)
So glad you're here too. You bring so much beauty and intelligence, via your writing & thoughts, into my world. It is so very appreciated xx
For those interested. This was the full list of the original ad tally from a 90 minutes MAFS segment:
Pepsi. KFC. Subway, eat. UberEats. Doordash, again. Activia, the good yoghurt. VB beer, wash it down. Cellarbrations, drink more. Youi insurance, in case it all goes wrong. Juniper diet program, fix it right after the KFC and Pepsi. Moisturisers. Iron supplements, repair the body you just ran through the loop. Pet parasite protection, keep something alive at least. Domain app, take on more debt. Nick Scali furniture clearance, fill the house. Big W, $29 vacuum cleaner, replace it when it breaks. Square POS system, keep the transactions moving. Vic government urgent care, you'll need it. Vanish washing powder. Clean it all. Unknown car brand, KIA, more SUVs. Move faster. Go further. Big 4 Holiday Parks, escape. A game show trailer, feel something upstairs. Ladbrokes bets, waste more money. Ryobi, make yourself useful. Chemist Warehouse vitamin C, sugarless, Pff...! Back to the body. Back to the loop. Harvey Norman sale. Again. KFC again. I had to cut them short for the published version of this essay.
Such an interesting take on how the machine preys on our susceptibilities with such erosive impact…
Thank you Magnus, you've hit the nail on the head. Erosive impact. We're sliding down the slippery slope if we're not aware of where the machine is dragging us.
Anliette, the depth you go to.. I never know where to start with one of your essays. You've opened what others only ever discussed on the surface. 🙌🏼 No one has talked about this as generational, at least not the way you've dissected it. Which also means it'll take generations to UNDO! As a mother, the Manila boy is the section that broke me. We inherit the noise and we pass it down. Most of us aren't even told what's being passed down. The work you're doing isn't only documenting what's been done to us. It's about what we pass on, and what we don't have to. Sharing this! X
Exactly! The cycle took generations to put us here. It will take generations to go back to where we should be. It starts with us, changing our habits by practicing Rare Attention, then passing that on to our children. Thank you for seeing my work with such a meticulous eye. Axx
The line that rang out to me: “The targeting follows the depletion. It goes wherever the resistance is lowest.”
I knew fast fashion was wasteful, but that picture from the documentary made my jaw drop. I did not know the details.
I was floored too, dear Peyton. And it’s increasing year on year, not decreasing. It’s obscene, isn’t it?
I read this twice now. Not sure where to begin with this mountain of a problem we've created. Most of my working life assumes attention is something to capture as efficiently as possible. I don't usually let myself think about what's on the other side of that.
The line that got me was that the machine didn't sell to the depleted, it created them. Of course it did. The same playbook pharma ran, and the food industry before us. I've watched teams, mine included, call that "reducing friction." We tell ourselves we're making things easier. What you're describing is what easier actually costs, and who pays for it. All I know is that we have work to do, responsibilities we've been avoiding and/or ignoring for too long.
Amazon makes it soooo easy to buy from. I have to stop and ask myself if I really need this or can I use something I already have to fulfil this need. The latter, while not as sexy as the former, is usually the honest choice : )
That’s good Liza. The more I dig into Amazon as a company, the more I avoid them. Chapter 9 will reveal more things that are directly affecting artists and indie stores like us. It’s unacceptable, and frankly criminal.
Fascinating article, as always. I remember returning to Belgium, after 3 weeks in America, with friends, almost handed from home to home. I came home destroyed, and that wasn't about my friends, they were so kind. I was destroyed by all the advertising I had been exposed to. I don't take pharmaceuticals, I have never worn a heart monitor for a month, I don't believe in annual medical checks - just a couple of examples of common stories I had heard from those people I talked to over there.
I came home quite shaken by this feeling, a kind of panic, that I was taking nothing, meanwhile, all of my friends on 'stuff', all of the tv, radio and magazine advertising I had been exposed to, had climbed inside my head and created some kind of panic and despair, that I was so exposed. Just me and my body.
And Belgium, after the sumptuousness of America - beds, carpets, homes, and all that food, Antwerp seemed like a city and a culture emerging from a long war, and much deprivation. It took me a while to recover my balance. I prefer less. I have an almost advertising free life.
Like you, I prefer foreign movies, documentaries and etc but to really depress myself, I sometimes check out the Top 10 on New Zealand's Netflix. It's truly terrifying.
I am so glad to have found you. x
Thank you for sharing this Di. I felt the same about the advertising in the States too! It IS terrifying, and so wrong on all counts. You can tell a lot about the state of a country by what's most watched, much like the Netflix Top 10. That's where The Majority 'lives'.
Oh, and don't get me started about pharmaceuticals… I'm sure I'm only scratching the surface of the issues we're all facing.
By the way, have you watched 'Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy' yet? I'm so glad you're here! Axx
Thank you. I've opened it on Netflix. The Netflix I left then returned to, missing my foreign movies. I used to have access to an Italian account, replacing it with a NZ one has almost broken my heart.
Pharmaceuticals ... same page I suspect.
I've opened 'Buy Now!' but don't know if I'll have the strength to watch it. I stepped away from tv viewing years ago, needing to control what I was exposed to. And have long-held a 'won't buy if I find it on an advertisement'. I tend to shop for just what I need, impervious to sales and adverts on things I don't need. And then clothes are generally secondhand, simply because it opens up a whole other world that is within budget :-)
So glad you're here too. You bring so much beauty and intelligence, via your writing & thoughts, into my world. It is so very appreciated xx