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Originally Posted by The_Dunedan
Your argument posits that advertisement, if done sufficiently well, removes or abridges free will and freedom of agency.
This is, politely, bullshit.
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That's not my argument.
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Advertising is suggestions, not bloody hypnotism, and if somebody's too dumb to understand that and process the adverts they receive accordingly, they deserve whatever they get. They're also to stupid to be allowed anywhere near a polling place.
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Of course it's not hypnotism (nor are there "subliminal messages"). You're misreading what I wrote, or, at the very least, you're taking implications and their possibilities to their logical extreme, which is misleading. Much of what ads do are related to influence and the power of suggestion. In many cases, what people think they've concluded on their own is actually influenced by advertising, family/peer pressure (both direct and indirect), and social expectations/taboos. The ultimate power of advertising resides in how it affects our subconscious, and the pathway it takes to get there is through, as I said, our desires and fears. Ads make associations that are both familiar and based on our past experiences, and so as much as we'd like to think we can consume ads and "decide to accept or reject them." In most cases, you have no choice...you've already consumed them whether you agree with the message or not.
The only alternative is to find a way to block ads out completely. But even then, you still have family/peer pressure and social expectations/taboos.
It's hard (impossible?) to escape it; you're more susceptible than you think. We all are.
EDIT: I should add that I find it interesting that you guys think that intelligence (media intelligence or otherwise) is a factor as to whether one deserves to exercise their right to vote.