Fortunately, that marked the last time corporations ever exploited a viral trend to boost their own visibility and profits. *cough* "AI-powered" *cough* "Made with AI" *gasping breaths*
Don Draper's whole thing was selling lifestyle for whatever client he was pitching. The series can be slow paced but it gets really good. The joke is that all that action is in the last 5 minutes of each episode, the rest is a slow build-up to that. It's "art". I may need to do a rewatch soon.
That show is SO good. I feel like I missed out because now there's so much other great stuff to watch. This isn't really me complaining, for what it's worth! We are still very much in a golden age for TV.
Antidote: consider how we really truly feel, on all levels, when we encounter such things. My grandmother was part of the era you're highlighting. She was an independent woman and took up smoking. However, when she got pregnant for her first child and discovered that smoking could harm the fetus, she quit cold turkey and never started again. It is not always so easy to back out of what we've gotten ourselves into (or what someone else has gotten us into), but we do continue to have choices if we are honest with ourselves. Great article, Andrew! :)
I love it! My own grandmother was a part of this era. Her independent-minded sister, my great aunt, lived to like 95 and was as sharp as a tack.. She helped me to see the world a bit more broadly simply in the way she spoke. I think a part of her lives on in me today.
This one was pretty "underground" at the time. I happened to know someone interested in them, so I tuned in.... but that was probably more random chance than any countercultural or "cool" elements running through me at the time.
Revisiting this song and video some 15 years ago, I got pretty strong nostalgia, and I really liked the messaging of the video. Still do!
The bigger the lie, the greater the grift, and the longer the oppression, the harder it falls. Because, like history and objective reality teaches us, inevitably, all bad things must come to an end.
Truth is definitely out of style and it could be said that Donald Trump is a master (con)-artist re the use of manipulating his doting disciples emotions. Trump is arguably the world's most famous (fake)-personality. Brand recognition of his name (Trump) especially via his long running very popular TV show, and all the free attention (mention of his name) via the media in his first presidential campaign was/is perhaps the essential key to his success.
Does truth not matter anymore, and it will not matter in the future, or is it a temporary situation even though it may last for years or centuries? Are we tolerating the falsehood, even knowing it is false, and encouraging it? Like someone said, “You get what you tolerate?”
I do believe that the below quote (I do not know the author) is largely accurate, even though sometimes it takes a while for it to happen:
"Reality always wins, your only job is to get in touch with it."
You got it! I had to look. I was only loosely aware of MC 900 Ft Jesus in 1991 or so, and only got to hear what I could on the radio back then. Then, Beavis and Butthead showed me a tiny bit more when they showcased that song/video.
Bernays invented the world in which we now live in. All modern advertising and its inescapable attention-gathering methods is descended from his groundbreaking work.
I think they were already selling cars as freedom before Bernays was around. That never changed, with the more recent strains being SUVs as safety and pickup trucks as manhood.
I wasn't able to determine whether Bernays and Ayn Rand ever met. She certainly went to town with the idea that the lit cigarette was the fire of Prometheus. Ironic that Rand was probably completely blind to the fact that she was promoting consumerism as a way to signal one's ideology and tribal affiliation.
Fortunately, that marked the last time corporations ever exploited a viral trend to boost their own visibility and profits. *cough* "AI-powered" *cough* "Made with AI" *gasping breaths*
We've got all the bad times behind us! The future appears so luminescent, we may be required to purchase and don sunglasses.
"This comment has been brought to you by Ray-Ban. Ray-Ban, for when the glow of the future is too bright."
AI is not AI. But it is still important.
There’s a good documentary about this available on YouTube, called “The Century of the Self.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ3RzGoQC4s
Oh yes, this is a very good documentary.
I want to call you MC 900 Foot Andrew now.
Also I can't help but think of Mad Men.
You can call me that! But what's the Mad Men reference? I've seen all of season 1, but not much beyond.
Don Draper's whole thing was selling lifestyle for whatever client he was pitching. The series can be slow paced but it gets really good. The joke is that all that action is in the last 5 minutes of each episode, the rest is a slow build-up to that. It's "art". I may need to do a rewatch soon.
That show is SO good. I feel like I missed out because now there's so much other great stuff to watch. This isn't really me complaining, for what it's worth! We are still very much in a golden age for TV.
The phrase "lifestyle brand" also comes to mind.
Antidote: consider how we really truly feel, on all levels, when we encounter such things. My grandmother was part of the era you're highlighting. She was an independent woman and took up smoking. However, when she got pregnant for her first child and discovered that smoking could harm the fetus, she quit cold turkey and never started again. It is not always so easy to back out of what we've gotten ourselves into (or what someone else has gotten us into), but we do continue to have choices if we are honest with ourselves. Great article, Andrew! :)
I love it! My own grandmother was a part of this era. Her independent-minded sister, my great aunt, lived to like 95 and was as sharp as a tack.. She helped me to see the world a bit more broadly simply in the way she spoke. I think a part of her lives on in me today.
Can I use the pictures in my blog post? It's about edward bernays.
Certainly. They are AI-generated, for what it's worth.
FABulous! Love the video. So 80s❣️ (Wonder how I missed it?!)
This one was pretty "underground" at the time. I happened to know someone interested in them, so I tuned in.... but that was probably more random chance than any countercultural or "cool" elements running through me at the time.
Revisiting this song and video some 15 years ago, I got pretty strong nostalgia, and I really liked the messaging of the video. Still do!
The bigger the lie, the greater the grift, and the longer the oppression, the harder it falls. Because, like history and objective reality teaches us, inevitably, all bad things must come to an end.
Truth is definitely out of style and it could be said that Donald Trump is a master (con)-artist re the use of manipulating his doting disciples emotions. Trump is arguably the world's most famous (fake)-personality. Brand recognition of his name (Trump) especially via his long running very popular TV show, and all the free attention (mention of his name) via the media in his first presidential campaign was/is perhaps the essential key to his success.
Does truth not matter anymore, and it will not matter in the future, or is it a temporary situation even though it may last for years or centuries? Are we tolerating the falsehood, even knowing it is false, and encouraging it? Like someone said, “You get what you tolerate?”
I do believe that the below quote (I do not know the author) is largely accurate, even though sometimes it takes a while for it to happen:
"Reality always wins, your only job is to get in touch with it."
I think it matters and will in the future, but we are at a cyclical low for how much truth is actually tolerated.
MC900FT Jesus! Yes! My friends and I loved this track & "I'm Going Straight To Heaven."
How about "If I Only Had a Brain"?
Also good. W/o looking, I think that one came later, right?
You got it! I had to look. I was only loosely aware of MC 900 Ft Jesus in 1991 or so, and only got to hear what I could on the radio back then. Then, Beavis and Butthead showed me a tiny bit more when they showcased that song/video.
Bernays invented the world in which we now live in. All modern advertising and its inescapable attention-gathering methods is descended from his groundbreaking work.
I think there's a clear "before" and "after" for this dude vis a vis marketing.
I think they were already selling cars as freedom before Bernays was around. That never changed, with the more recent strains being SUVs as safety and pickup trucks as manhood.
Almost certainly. I think it was more a matter of degrees. After Bernays, it was just acceptable and normal.
I wasn't able to determine whether Bernays and Ayn Rand ever met. She certainly went to town with the idea that the lit cigarette was the fire of Prometheus. Ironic that Rand was probably completely blind to the fact that she was promoting consumerism as a way to signal one's ideology and tribal affiliation.
Ayn Rand was incredibly stupid. The people that she thought should run the world, do. The capital is Davos.
Trust me, as a marketer of truth, truth comes back into style -
after the market for lies has been well and truly glutted.
Usually the is a war or a depression.
Seems like it's been glutted for most of my life. Looking forward to the switch.
You do not know what gutted looks like. 2007 was the last time we even got close.
Silly me, then.
Study history.
Clearly I haven't, since I don't know The Inevitable One True Interpretation.
Tell me when you find it.
There was a guy around here who said he was "God" who found it.
Or was it "Dog" ? I am dyslexic.