And it’s only $19.95!!
By Jim Coogan
How many times do you see television advertisements for things that cost $19.95? They are always accompanied by an additional come-on that says that if you purchase the item right now, you’ll get a second one free – only pay the extra shipping fee (the cost is not specified.) Recently, I saw a little machine that lets pet owners painlessly cut their animal’s foot nails. Buy now and you get some extra attachments at no extra charge. There was another one for small outdoor solar powered lights. They come in packs of four. If you called the 800 number within the hour, the company would send you a second set of four, free!! Just pay the extra shipping cost. For $19.95 you can get a gizmo that will let you effortlessly peel three hard boiled eggs simultaneously. Ordering now, you can get a second one to give as a gift. Just pay the extra shipping cost. It’s not twenty bucks – just $19.95!
Marketing has come a long way from the days when Vance Packard published his book, The Hidden Persuaders. It was 1957 in the still early days of television, when Packard set out to decode the psychology of selling and how advertisers tap into a subliminal consumer desire to buy the products they are offering. As Packard documented after years of motivational research, advertisers manipulate unconscious minds with an increasingly sophisticated marketing strategy that builds an almost hypnotic association with a brand through repetition and attractive packaging. How many times, for example, have you repeated the inane mantra of “Liberty, Liberty, Liberty, Liberty,” used in promos for Liberty Mutual Insurance Company? It sticks in your head. It’s there when you sleep. Same for that annoying “Kars for Kids” song. You can’t stop thinking about it. It is clear that Packard’s basic premise that advertisers are skilled manipulators of the buying public are still valid.
The process of marketing consumer products naturally has become part of political campaigns. If you could sell consumers on a particular brand of dishwasher soap by using bright colors and smiling people, it followed that the public could be turned to favor a candidate based on repetition and attractive packaging. The Selling of the President, 1968, about the presidential campaign of Richard M. Nixon, written by American author Joe McGinniss, became one of the most-influential books on the modern ways that American presidential candidates run for office. It introduced readers to the stage-managed world of political theater where Nixon was hawked like a pack of cigarettes by media savvy handlers. The 1968 race for the White House paved the way for what we now know and expect from political campaigns – a closely monitored and scripted image that the candidate projects to the world. Nothing is left to chance. Even the placement of a flag pendent on a suit jacket, the color of a tie – or hair, is carefully planned.
I wish we could use the $19.95 ploy to change how politicians are marketed. In a presidential race, for example, we might see a short thirty-second promo of the candidate followed by a full screen shot stating in bold letters, “For just $19.95, we will guarantee that you will get the best president out there. And if you make your choice now, we will throw in a vice-president of equal value at no extra charge. Just pay the additional selection fee. Money back if not completely satisfied.” Now wouldn’t that be great.
