10/29/09

Sued, Drug Use, Apology, Confession, Caskets and a Monster

Those were a list of words that managed to make the top searches on the internet.

Usually a celebrity’s name will precede them (with the exception of the Monster, that was the one you’d think would be behind a big name, but sadly no….ha….it was a discovery of a sea monster) Oh and Caskets; that was something about Walmart selling caskets online. That one was so ridiculous. I shook my head once and moved on.

The other four words are classic grab words. When used in conjunction with a big name, you can get just about anyone to click on something. (don’t feel bad, I did not suck you in using them on my blog, you are just a regular reader here, right? Hahahahah—LOVE YOU!!!) ;)

On the flipside of it, many of you know I will click on just about anything that says "Puppies" or "Kittens". They are used to try and sell us everything too! Even though I never wax a car by hand, I might buy car wax if a Jack Russell Puppy is selling it to me. :)

I also notice big brand names affixing themselves to things that they have nothing in common with. A popular Cola or fast food restaurant sponsoring something that has to do with a Health event. (I’m not going to start pointing direct fingers) That’s really bizarre to me. You walk away thinking, "Oh Geeze, even though their product contains 10 times my caloric intake and 50 times my salt, I feel good about these guys! They are doing good things!"

What ends up happening with these kinds of advertising (both grab words and associating) is we tend to do one of two things outside of ignoring it.

*We click on it or read it because we are curious

*We throw stones at the wrong participants

But I think there are the people who don’t get enough credit here (don’t necessarily think good credit, but it could be) and that’s the person profiting.

When we click on an internet story that is gossipy with the grab words, there is generally a banner somewhere on that page. You may not necessarily click on the banner, but you at least peripherally see it. When you spot a big organization associated with something you already know to be good, you may already know that fast food chain or cola company is garbage but you are left with a feeling of "oh, a family run company" or "they assist with my son’s Little League team, they can’t be all bad".

I am all about people doing well at their business. I’m not trying to stifle profit. I am however very aware of things are not always as they seem.

As I have said before, I really just skim the news to stay current. I don’t dive in very far because I have become aware of how the negativity affects me. What I have been trying to stay attentive to(without indulging in paranoia or conspiracy theories) are the motivations behind advertising.

The words I listed in the title are colorful (they grabbed me initially) but they are negative. I actually have more of an issue with the people writing the stories than I do the people in the stories. It’s a catch 22; we read it; we feed it, they feed us; we eat it again…

Anyways, I don’t know how deep I want to go with this as it’s already been a long day. But I think it’s just good to be attentive to the negative wording in both journalism and advertising and steer clear as best we can. We can change our home page to something better and we can support companies we believe in.

It’s really just about choices.

Hope you have had a great week so far!
Karen :)

"I would be lying if I said the journalism doesn't reflect my own choices as a reporter and a writer: what to say, what to emphasize, how to say it, what is true or untrue." ~David Simon

1 comment:

  1. Shopping for the right casket company can be tiresome and complicated. Good thing you can check for some good deals online.

    ReplyDelete