Friday, July 24, 2009
Envy
I don't understand advertisements for products that say "You'll be the envy of your friends and neighbors if you own this (home-car-watch-etc.)" Are there really that many shallow people out there who want their "friends" to be envious? Of course I know they exist, and maybe they're the only ones with money, especially right now. This kind of marketing is a total turn-off for me, but then I'm trying to cultivate better relationships with human beings, not inspire jealousy. Especially since I believe human relationships will last beyond our tenure in this world.
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7 comments:
Hi Barb,
I think those kinds of commercials are stupid, too. I've never really wanted anyone to envy me and it would embarrass me if someone did.
I've thought about this kind of thing a lot, esp. since I've had kids and have a desire to innoculate them from advertising. One thing I've come up with is that advertising tends to work at unconscious levels. That's why it's good to talk about the wording -- as you are doing here. Words mean things.
At a subconscious level, many people do want others to envy them--at least with a kind of mild, casual envy. But few would consciously admit it. Does this make sense?
You do make sense, Pauli. I've thought about this a lot recently because I have friends that are worse off than me on certain levels. (You can always find someone worse off than you and someone better off, at least externally.) I want things for myself and my family but only because I think it would help my family. Examples are a dwelling with more space, and a vehicle or two that didn't require so much maintenance and repair due to age. I would never want these things just to make my friends jealous, and I'm all for my friends having gorgeous houses and cars also, could even be nicer than mine. Of course, some of this may be due to the fact that I don't buy into a lot of what I'm *supposed* to want, at least not anymore.
Examples are a dwelling with more space, and a vehicle or two that didn't require so much maintenance and repair due to age.
Hey, what about "Cash for Clunkers?" Sounds like a plan to me.
lol. Both of our vehicles would qualify for that program. If I believed it was something the federal government should be doing, I'd jump at it. It's still tempting anyway, I have to admit. :)
Barb, look. If I needed the money and a better ride, and a silly gov't program could help, I'd do it. An example I'd offer: my friend--who is really well off now-- took $1,000.00 assistance from the state when he had his first child. He has 8 kids now and owns a couple dozen rental properties. The state gets EVERYTHING back and then some, right? You shouldn't feel like a hypocrite any more than somebody who dislikes their job but works it anyway for their family's sake.
But... on the other hand...
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