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You’re currently reading “number twelve,” an entry on culture. ish.
The “evolution of beauty” commentary is awesome! Great job sk!
I suppose I could have found a better way to make my point; what I mean is not that we can’t, at times, care for people by selling them things. Instead, I mean that I think it’s entirely possible that caring for people has become, in some cases, subordinate to earning a profit for the corporation. Take the Dove ad: it says “you shouldn’t feel the need to measure up to this standard of artificial beauty” - which is a caring, and true, thing to say. The problem is that it’s doing this as a means to set up another (admittedly much more realistic) artificial standard of beauty, which - shock! surprise! - you can acheive by using Dove’s particular methods and products. That is to say, they can speak the truth, but only insofar as it doesn’t interfere with their bottom line. They’ve got to stop short at the point where their profits drop and their shares sink. If they’d thought that that was a true message, but that it would cost them sales, the commercial most likely never would have aired.
Well… you could take it down that path Adam, but that’s sort of a sad thought.
I really do believe that some people within companies who depict that they care… actually do… sure… some may see it as a necessity (look at how hosts/servers have to be super nice to make the money… and they’re taught that through the company or their experiences) to make the money… or more money.
Challenging (even though sad) thought though. Makes you think… what would you do as a worker or a manager of some sort if you dealt with the message that customers received.
adam: so, you can’t both care for someone and sell them something (and vice versa)?
i really hope that you can.
Janet, I think I see what you’re saying. Maybe the problem isn’t that people are cynical and just trying to manipulate us to sell products. Maybe it’s something more troubling (at least to me) - maybe caring about people and selling them things aren’t separate for a lot of people any more. I guess what I mean is that caring, like everything else, is becoming a commodity.
I somewhat agree with previously said comments about Dove, but I can’t let that fly with the thought that no one there really cares. Yes, I am sure they realized that their new take on beauty could and would boost their sales, but I also have to believe that some people there actually care.
As for the video… it wasn’t all too shocking to me. I feel like I’ve been informed of such things for a long time… but who knows… maybe someone else never realized.
as for the other articles they make me want to listen and see those things.
The “Evolution” video is interesting, but it is only another marketing ploy. Dove doesn’t give two shits if you “Campaign for Real Beauty”, all they want you to do is buy their products. And if they can make you feel good about yourself by buying their products (see: Project[Red]), their advertising team is worth their salt.
Playlist is good, but “The Stroke” is the gayest (in all senses of the word, literal and otherwise) song ever recorded.
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