Am I so impressionable?
Did you know that advertising is one of the most reviled professions in the world? Right behind lawyers? Are you pretending to be surprised? It's ok. I don't take it personally. We are, after all, the people trying to convince your children that they need sugar cereal. And the little snipets of film that show you the softer side of Philip Morris? Yep. That's us.
I am here to tell you, however, that we do not use subliminal messaging to brain wash you. I'm always asked if we do. Perhaps people are ashamed to admit they are indeed persuaded by the shamefully blatant pleas we bombard you with. They wish to believe there is a greater force at work. One against which they are powerless. Sorry, dude. You plunked down 60 Gs for that Hummer because the ad said it might make you appear more powerful. By the way, feeling powerful at $4+ a gallon?*
Anyway, I've never believed in the effectiveness of subliminal messaging or brainwashing, until I pondered the potential connectedness of recent events through the rear view mirror.
Event One:
As you all know, we embarked on a kitchen renovation toward the end of the third trimester of my pregnancy. It turned our apartment upside down and left us largely confined to our bedroom. We watched a lot of Law & Order SVU marathons.
Event Two:
I don't believe in revealing names under consideration for unborn children. It invites unwanted opinions on an entirely subjective topic. The only votes that count are the mom and dad's (well, let's face it - really only mom's counts). Once you announce the name, no one is going to tell you they don't like it. But now I can tell you, after reading through the entire "100,000 Baby Names" book and months of consideration with a painstaking process involving post it notes, we narrowed girl names down to Alexandra and Olivia. (In case there is another Baby Voltz someday, no negative comments please).
Subliminal Connection?
Only later did I realize the names of the two lead females on SVU...
Also note, I did buy the stick up bulb.
* By the way, I don't mean to sound entirely cynical about advertising. I think it also does plenty of public good. Like the Dove work I've written about which challenged beauty norms. Or like the Mac work which opened up people's options. Or like the mini work, which made small cars cool. Or like the Target work that made affordable fashionable. I could go on...
3 comments:
purple chai/OldWoman
Okay, I have to comment. I do love the name Olivia, but I have a kid whose names have double alliteration -- think something like Cathy McCarthy -- and Olivia Voltz has three. Beautiful name, but she won't thank you for it. (Oh, maybe she will, but my kid wouldn't.)
Hi, PC/OW! I know - I thought long and hard about that issue. In the end I decided it was lyrical enough to work. Anyway, didn't end up having to worry about it.
First off, you are sooo right about subliminal advertising. I remember years ago I worked with an art director who had worked on the "infamous" liquor ad that supposedly had S - E - X retouched into the ice cubes. Some professor made a whole career out of that ad! This A.D. was furious as he said they'd never retouched a darn thing, and that the client was too damn cheap to have paid for it even IF there was multiple studies proving subliminal advertising works (and there aren't).
As to names, you can't TOTALLY blame SVU for liking those names! If SVU was to blame, Casey would have been one of your choices for boy OR girl. And the boys names would have included Elliott, John (Munch), and Finn (Tutuola).
Personally, I like both the names Olivia & Alexandra with Voltz. The use of less common consonants like the x in Alexandra is nice, and the double v's in Olivia and Voltz has a nice ring to it! They also aren't overly used.
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