Although I would like to say that advertising has little to no effect on my daily life, the truth is, if I were to say that I would only be avoiding the facts of matter, and in many ways I would be lying to myself.
Perhaps part of the reason I feel that advertisements do not work on me is because as the advertising clutter increases, so does my “immunity.” As of now, an average billboard or snappy catchphrase will not hold my attention, and with sites that allow me to stream movies online (such as Netflix) I hardly ever watch television. However, this does not mean that I avoid the effects, and it is clear that as more clutter gets produced, new ways to “break through the clutter” must also be found if companies wants to survive.
I feel that it is this idea, of needing new ways to grab a consumers attention, is where the movie Generation Like comes in. It seems as though advertisers realize that the best way to get to consumers is directly through social media, rather than traditional ads. This also ties into the idea brought up at the end of The Persuaders that we have gotten to a point where consumers have started to persuade themselves, thus blurring the line between “us and them.” In other words, advertisements have become so invasive into nearly every aspect of our lives (clothes, food, politics, etc.) that no one can completely avoid their reach.
On a slightly different note, the scariest part of The Persuaders movie was not that advertising companies are systematically breaking down our human experience into tangible data in order to sell more product. Nor was it the fact that many ads are being done in a way that elicit an emotional response, rather than a simple “I want to buy that item.” Instead, the most eye-opening aspect of the movie was how these same techniques are being done with political ads. To me this is the most scary because, unlike advertisements for products, there are little to no regulations on what is an appropriate amount of factual information to include.
Lastly, I will end this blog with one of my favorite ads. Although in many ways I enjoy this video because of its imagery, at the end of the day it was created to get me to buy a product.
Julian's Blog 
Hi Julian! You so well articulate these topics in summation. I watched your video ad and thought the redemption in it was that you are given this camera’s-eye view of what might never, otherwise, be available to be seen. I find the fewer ads we give our attention to, the more we can distinguish them as manipulative.
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You make a good point, Katherine. Here’s a weird thing, though, that I’ve noticed recently. I’m exposed to fewer ads because I’m running ad blocking filters on my web browser and I only watch TV via Netflix. But when I do see ads, I find them riveting. I can’t look away. Whatever desensitization I acquired in 45 years of watching endless commercials seems to have disappeared. I’m extremely aware of advertising — and weirdly prone to its effects. Crazy, right?
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