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Why make a good product, when you can make a good advert or public relations campaign instead and gain repeat customers in a shorter timescale? (As your produc

Why make a good product, when you can make a good advert or public relations campaign instead and gain repeat customers in a shorter timescale? (As your product will need replacing sooner.) If all the corporations collude in this way, everyone is a winner. But of course the customer is at fault for this environmental misuse of resources.... right? We should shoulder the expense of cleaning up the mess that corporations and governments create. ^ That is the corporate/governmental plan - spin the problem as an environmental issue that the consumer pays for! (Again.) And extract even more money from the customer in the process as they get rid of servicable products in favour of echo-friendly ones. Make laws to force them to do this too! It's a win win for the corporations!

verisimi 4y ago
Mass production is only profitable if its rhythm can be maintained.. that is, if it can continue to sell its product in steady or increasing quantity. The result is that while, under the handicraft or small-unit system of production that was typical a century ago, demand created the supply, today supply must actively seek to create its corresponding demand. Edward Bernays, 1930 I believe that competition in the future will not be only an advertising competition between individual products or between big associations, but that it will in addition be a competition of propaganda. Edward Bernays, 1930
rglover 4y ago
What you're attributing to "evil corporations" is really just mimetic theory playing out. Most people want (in general, but specifically here, those working in corporations) to play it safe and in turn, end up copying "the other guy" in the form of product focus, strategy, and culture. The sad truth is most people in most companies are just lemmings which creates the illusion of collusion, when really, it's just a whole lot of unoriginality.
- verisimi 4y ago
  I think it's a strategy, as per the 2 quotes I also provided by Edward Bernais from 1930 - it's not even a new strategy! Bernays is the father of public relations, he got women smoking, gave us egg and bacon for breakfast, initiated throwaway culture via advertising, etc - he helped shape the culture we find. This was by design, as he says. You should read some of his other quotes - it's all very conspiratorial before that was even a term: https://libquotes.com/edward-bernays/works/propaganda https://libquotes.com/edward-bernays/works/propaganda Here's a good one: > The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. Edward Bernays Obviously, it's not a strategy that will be much discussed, as its such an unappealing prospect. But the situation we find makes far greater sense as a conspiracy than companies merely stupid (which I agree is a part).
  - rglover 4y ago
    I absolutely agree with this (this basically spills the beans [1] starting on page 21), but I'd bet good money most of this thinking originates from a single source and the others are just copycats. The reason why is that usually you can find one company/product that's "closer to the stream" in terms of purity and quality, while the others are noticeable knockoffs. For example, a few years back there was a craze around workout wristbands (Jawbone Up, Fitbit, etc) and I'll never forget seeing Under Armour try to ship their own clone [2] and shouted (loud enough to startle the people I was with, not the rest of the store), in their store, "why the hell would you do that?!" The reason for the outburst was that I imagined the expenditure to make the thing—in terms of salaries, consultants, logistics, etc—dwarfed the actual sales (which any self-respecting CEO not caught in a mimetic haze would realize immediately). [1] https://ia800100.us.archive.org/5/items/SilentWeaponsForQuietWarsOriginalDocumentCopy/Silent%20Weapons%20for%20Quiet%20Wars%20Original%20Document%20Copy.pdf https://ia800100.us.archive.org/5/items/SilentWeaponsForQuie... [2] https://www.kohls.com/product/prd-2569108/under-armour-band-activity-tracker.jsp https://www.kohls.com/product/prd-2569108/under-armour-band-...

verisimi 4y ago

Mass production is only profitable if its rhythm can be maintained.. that is, if it can continue to sell its product in steady or increasing quantity. The result is that while, under the handicraft or small-unit system of production that was typical a century ago, demand created the supply, today supply must actively seek to create its corresponding demand. Edward Bernays, 1930 I believe that competition in the future will not be only an advertising competition between individual products or between big associations, but that it will in addition be a competition of propaganda. Edward Bernays, 1930

rglover 4y ago

What you're attributing to "evil corporations" is really just mimetic theory playing out. Most people want (in general, but specifically here, those working in corporations) to play it safe and in turn, end up copying "the other guy" in the form of product focus, strategy, and culture. The sad truth is most people in most companies are just lemmings which creates the illusion of collusion, when really, it's just a whole lot of unoriginality.

verisimi 4y ago
I think it's a strategy, as per the 2 quotes I also provided by Edward Bernais from 1930 - it's not even a new strategy! Bernays is the father of public relations, he got women smoking, gave us egg and bacon for breakfast, initiated throwaway culture via advertising, etc - he helped shape the culture we find. This was by design, as he says. You should read some of his other quotes - it's all very conspiratorial before that was even a term: https://libquotes.com/edward-bernays/works/propaganda https://libquotes.com/edward-bernays/works/propaganda Here's a good one: > The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. Edward Bernays Obviously, it's not a strategy that will be much discussed, as its such an unappealing prospect. But the situation we find makes far greater sense as a conspiracy than companies merely stupid (which I agree is a part).
- rglover 4y ago
  I absolutely agree with this (this basically spills the beans [1] starting on page 21), but I'd bet good money most of this thinking originates from a single source and the others are just copycats. The reason why is that usually you can find one company/product that's "closer to the stream" in terms of purity and quality, while the others are noticeable knockoffs. For example, a few years back there was a craze around workout wristbands (Jawbone Up, Fitbit, etc) and I'll never forget seeing Under Armour try to ship their own clone [2] and shouted (loud enough to startle the people I was with, not the rest of the store), in their store, "why the hell would you do that?!" The reason for the outburst was that I imagined the expenditure to make the thing—in terms of salaries, consultants, logistics, etc—dwarfed the actual sales (which any self-respecting CEO not caught in a mimetic haze would realize immediately). [1] https://ia800100.us.archive.org/5/items/SilentWeaponsForQuietWarsOriginalDocumentCopy/Silent%20Weapons%20for%20Quiet%20Wars%20Original%20Document%20Copy.pdf https://ia800100.us.archive.org/5/items/SilentWeaponsForQuie... [2] https://www.kohls.com/product/prd-2569108/under-armour-band-activity-tracker.jsp https://www.kohls.com/product/prd-2569108/under-armour-band-...