We are living in a day in age where advertising has run rampid, and the survival of the richest is on!
One alarming statistic was that a typical person in downtown Tokoyo can experience up to 100 000 advertisement impressions a day.
We western society we are also bombarded by ongoing approaches to win our attention.
Corporate sponsoring is at an all time high. It basically funds Sports teams and drives athletes salaries, and it’s exactly how what we want it. It supports our lifestyle, and nothing is going to change that anytime soon. Because we like being sedate and distracted. Especially when met with the likes of Middle Eastern War, and threats from North Korea.
We are coming to the point where only the most money will be able to advertise. Ever notice that the majority of advertisers are Automotive, Cleaners, and Fast Food joints?
Back in the 50’s we might’ve seen an ad, and felt compelled to go out and purchase that product/service. Not anymore. It’s about Branding, and getting your brand out there more and more, until the point where the consumer has you in their mind at the time of purchase, the more likely they will buy you.
It is the race for the Almighty Eyeball. It’s what drives demographics statistics, it’ drives ticket sales, it’s what determines which TV shows get picked up and which ones fold. It drives advertising rates, and will ultimately drive how society is driven. So, I suppose it will be the wealthiest advertiser, the one with the deepest pockets, who will prevails, as they will be able to weather the financial lulls and storms, and last the longest, and in the end be there to message to us. Message to us on the web, TV, print media.
We may have become sophisticated insofar as we filter which ads we want to include in the forefront of our brain and disregard the rest, but the overall embedding of the impression is still valid. In fact, most major advertisers have figured that part out, and have counter attacked.
So, our eyeballs are precious, and we shouldn’t just give them up to just any old thing. Let us protect them from whatever may soil our minds. Let us make conscious efforts to place our attention in a direction towards “whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.” (quoted by Paul from Tarsus).