I heard an interesting point on the radio today. The discussion concerned how little girls are marketed to, the increasing sexualization of younger and younger girls, and how the whole 'princess' meme has taken over. One of the ladies in the discussion made the point that - with 26,000 princess-themed products on the shelves in a year - Disney has changed 'princess' from a choice to a mandate. If there's nothing else in the toy aisle to buy for girls, then you have de facto decided for them that they want to be princesses, even if, deep down, they really would rather not.
It's 100% true. If you've been in a toy store or in a big-box retailer lately, you know about 'the pink aisles.' Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, is that vibrating vulva-pink that hurts your eyes. Toy companies and retailers have stopped responding to what the customer wants and now are telling the customer what they're going to get. And that's completely wrong.
But this got me to thinking, where is this not already the case? Where, in our modern consumer society, do the marketers not already control what we see and hear? Sure with little girls and princesses it's egregious and over-the-top, but isn't it just the same with fifty-year-old men and Cadillacs? Do you think every fifty-year-old man wants a Cadillac, or is that they believe Cadillac represents a certain arrival, a threshold that says to them they've 'made it?' There's almost no real difference between brands of modern cars, other than one of perception. And marketing.
Or what about new mothers and baby stuff? This is probably more evil than 'the pink aisles' in stores because it exploits a mother's need to do the best for their child, combined with their insecurity and fear that they're not doing enough. New mothers today are bombarded by messages that they are not fit for the title unless they have... fill in the product line here. The properly-branded stroller, or the hypo-allergenic blanket or the BPA-free sippy cup. It's all fantasy, especially when you realize the world got by without any this stuff for the entirety of recorded human history, minus the last five years or so. And yet new mothers forget their own upbringing and respond like robots to the marketers and dutifully buy whatever grotesquely-expensive new thing they're told will make their baby safe and make them the perfect parent.
We're very focused on financial institutions right now, on making sure they never again rape the world like they were allowed to for the past 30 years. But what about these marketing douchebags? I think there's a more sinister, creeping depravity about them, one that undercuts our confidence in ourselves, one that leaves us open to crass manipulation and soulless exploitation. And it's all in the name of making a buck.
These are the bastards we need to watch.
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The problem with marketers is that as long as they are able to find the numbers (and qualitative focus group results, etc) to back up their decisions, they're going to keep doing what they do. Part of the job is appealing to these psychological motivators and cultural desires/norms that humans perpetuate. Does marketing have its evils? You bet it does. In a neutral sense it is "meeting needs profitably." But those who are marketed to also have a responsibility to educate themselves and not become robotic (although for better or worse marketers do get trained in conditioning and other psychological tactics). There are bad companies and there are good companies. In some cases, the marketing process can help advance society and help usher it in a new direction. The basic need may still be the same, but it is serviced in a more efficient and enhanced way or the product/service may now address several additional needs while benefiting multiple products/companies (think the iPod). In terms of social injustices (e.g. sexualization of young girls and gender inequality), I don't think marketing creates that problem. It is just another revelation that it still exists (if we take the time to notice and question it). If the sales aren't there, then that's when marketers begin to take notice and adapt to changes in consumer behavior. It's up to us to change that and make them do so as well. I could keep going, but I'll stop my rant. Can you tell I have two degrees in this?
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