Sometimes, however, I think the greatest risk is, to paraphrase Pogo1, the risk is us.
Three articles in Memorial Day’s post caught my attention:
- Fiat Chrysler recalls nearly 5 million U.S. vehicles for cruise control software glitch
Food firms could face litigation over neuromarketing to hijack brains
- Sesame Street sues 'explicit and profane' puppet movie The Happytime Murders
THE FIAT STORY got my attention since one of my neighbors has a nice Chrysler Pacifica.
I looked for the article on line – all Advisen does is provide a searchable link. What I found was no surprise: two of the links reported Chrysler recalling 5.3 million vehicles (Wall Street Journal and Reuters), two links claiming a recall of nearly 5 million vehicles (Moneywatch and CBSnews), and one claiming Chrysler is recalling only 4.8 million cars (not vehicles).
OK, 4.8 million is nearly 5 million, but hardly 5.3 million.
It’s hard to know which of the media 800-pound gorillas to believe; maybe none is the correct answer.
AMERICA’S PASTIME: SUE THE B*ST*RDS2
It seems that Muppets are not as unique as Jim Hensen may have thought.
The Muppets current owner, the Walt Disney Company, is taking exception to a new, R-rated film,
Happytime Murders, with Melissa McCarthy as the lead human, is, according to the suit as reported by CNN: 3
- "Sesame Street" is suing the makers of Melissa McCarthy's upcoming raunchy comedy, "The Happytime Murders," for referencing the popular kids show in its marketing campaign.
The “Street’s” owners contend that “Happytime Murders” does not have the right to use "Sesame Street" in its tagline.
CNN reports that
- The R-rated film follows "two clashing detectives" -- Melissa McCarthy and her partner, a puppet named Phil Phillips -- in Los Angeles as they work together "to solve the brutal murders of the former cast of a beloved classic puppet television show," according to its website.4.
Perhaps spice shops should remove all sesame products from their shelves, or insist that all such products bear their Latin name: sesamun indicum.
Given its “R” rating and – if the on-line trailers are any indication, it’s – as CNN calls it – “ raunchy comedy” will not be confused with Jim Hensen’s characters. Happytime Murders is certainly no Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, a movie that had its moments.
Suit or no suit, based on what I saw on line, I’ll skip spending time with Melissa McCarthy. Jessica Rabbit . . . another story.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT – OR NOT5
A number of on-line media are reporting that Food firms could face litigation over neuromarketing to hijack brains.
In particular, the complaint is that
- Fast food, soft drinks and snack companies increasingly interact with children through social media and online games. Some are beginning to probe further, gathering information through brain scans about how unconscious decisions are made to eat one snack rather than another and targeting people’s susceptibilities. A report on food neuromarketing to children by the Center for Digital Democracy6 in 2011 predicted “an explosive rise in new tactics targeted especially at young people”.
In other words, advertising as usual.
Granted, there is blatant advertising: Buy this!
There is subtle marketing: a smiling Tony the Tiger, or a child in a wheelchair offering a special blanket for a donation of only $19/month.
There is a surreptitious marketing; That can of beer or a whiskey bottle on the table in front of the movie’s hero, or a pack of cigarettes on the bedside table (offering two suggestions for the price of one).
Finally, there is – or perhaps was – subliminal marketing
According to MDirector.com7,
- Marketing with subliminal messages aims to encourage the purchase of the product through subtle effects that are not normally visible to the naked eye. It’s not only the images that are used to get into your head; sounds and other techniques are also used to help the message sink into your subconscious.
Thinking back to the Muppets for a moment, Disney movies have gained notoriety for subliminal messages in its movies for the impressionable ages.
MDirector contends that
- One of the classic examples in marketing with a subliminal message is Disney. And it is suggested by many experts that many of their films contain subliminal messages that incite sex. Like Aladdin for example, in the original film there is a scene where the main character says: “Good teenagers take off your clothes”. Although when this came to light, Disney brushed it off by saying that it was just bad locution on the part of the voice actor. However, the phrase has stuck in peoples minds ever since.
The same thing has happened in scenes from other films. The most famous is from the film The Lion King. There is a moment in the film, when the main character lies down at the edge of a cliff creating a cloud of dust. Do you know what image that cloud of dust created? The word “SEX”.
Disney is hardy the only subliminal advertising practitioner, MDirector notes that
- Before the first ever episode of the series Futurama aired, the creators of the Simpsons gave a subtle shout out to the audience to make sure they would watch the new TV Show. During the credits the words “Watch Futurama” were placed between the first name and surname of the executive producer David Cohen.
The only question I have is “Why now?”
Advertising in all its forms has been going on for centuries.
Sources
1. http://tinyurl.com/y9kkrrbh
2. http://tinyurl.com/ycap3xmr
3. http://tinyurl.com/y96u87v8
4. http://tinyurl.com/ybvkytzl
5. http://tinyurl.com/yahfgmns
6. https://www.democraticmedia.org/
7. http://tinyurl.com/ybf3gzgk
PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.
Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.
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