Persuasion and Foreplay

I reminisce of high school days, my English teacher assigned us to write a persuasion essay, "In this essay," she said "you can write about anything you want, but you have to try to persuade your peers to do something." Persuasion was something so simple to me then, and getting my classmates to sign up to give blood was an easy achievement.

The Persuasion industry today, is not so simple; billions of dollars are put into persuading the public to vote, act, or buy a certain way. In the documentary "The Persuaders," Anne Klein states "Consumers are like roaches you spray them and after a while it doesn't work anymore, we develop immunities." These immunities are a direct result of the persuader's attempt to catch our attention. "They are the ones that make clutter and they are the ones that have to break through the clutter," states Mark Crispin Miller. In order to break the clutter, the persuader must entice us, stimulate us; arouse our senses.

The persuaders therefore, have modified their techniques and evolved in this ever changing society. They have embarked upon an innovative approach to persuade people; this advanced persuasion is like foreplay. It isn't enough to introduce people to a product, thought, or idea--this will only add to the clutter without ever catching our attention-instead the persuaders make us hunger for it, crave it. The industry taps into our inner most desires, they say the right things, and show us what we want to see; they tease their way into our pockets and aren't satisfied until we are begging for what they've got; that's when they have us, that's when we let them in.

So what does the persuader possess in his quest for coveting converts? How is it that the persuader can have us begging for more without us ever catching on? How does the persuader succeed in his persuasion?

First, let's unpack the identity of the persuader. Edward Bernays calls him "the innovator, the leader, the special pleader for new ideas. This "leader, special pleader" is a pied piper of public opinion, luring the public into his rhetorical pleasure, which is often an illusion. The persuader is the advertiser, the marketer, he is the politician; the persuader can also be you or me. According to Bernays, "the privilege of attempting to sway public opinion is everyone's." A successful persuader has a toolbox filled with special instruments and rhetorical techniques; they operate jointly, and are very are effective at stimulating our senses until we give in to their persuasion.

Emotion is a force that drives humanity; it is the aid to which couples fall madly in love, and enemies passionately detest each other. Samuel Adams was correct when he said: "Mankind is governed more by their feelings than by reason". Because of this fact, the persuader uses our emotions to persuade us. In Edward Bernays Manipulation of Public Opinion, he states "He [the persuader] knows in general the basic emotions and desires of the public he intends to reach, and their prevalence and intensity." With this knowledge he is able to tap into our joys, hurts, passions, fears, and desires; an emotional foreplay. We, acting upon our feelings, throw all reasoning out the window and grab hold of the persuader's product or idea, not by force, by impulse. Emotional appeal is a vital stepping stone in manipulation and persuasion, and has bred what persuasion professionals call Emotional Branding.

Emotional Branding is a new technique which brings a new depth into advertising or marketing a brand. Under this technique, the identities of a brand is extended far beyond its performance, the brand has now taken on ideals, characteristics and values. Tim Smith of the Wiglaf journal states: "In emotional branding, the brand definition extends beyond usage or consumption into the experience people have with the company and its products." Douglas Rushkoff states: "By the early 1990's the new approach to marketing came to the floor, one that leapt right over what the product did to what the product meant." This concept of Emotional branding has been very successful in ad campaigns. Sprite is a great example of this branding. It's "obey your thirst" campaign, featuring the popular slogan: "Image is nothing; thirst is everything," appealed to 'generation x'. The campaign featured basketball stars and ironically made fun of marketers. Sprite associates reinvented the soda brand; to them, sprite was authenticity, beyond the status quo, out of the box. This campaign was extremely successful because of its emotional appeal. Sprite sold the idea of individuality, at the end of the day however, the consumer only received lemon lime soda.

Emotion not only is the force that draws consumers, it also breeds loyalty. Products, as anything we have an emotional attachment to, produce devotion. Kevin Roberts states: "You feel the world through your five senses, the brands that can move to that emotional level, that can create loyalty beyond reason are going to be the brands where premium profits lie." These products he calls love marks. "Love marks are a brand infused with mystery sensuality and intimacy and that you recognize immediately as having some kind of iconic place in your heart." Love marks like the Cheerio or the Nike swoosh are great examples of brands with loyalty beyond reason, they sell because of a devoted consumer base that believes in what the brand represents. The representation of the brand however, is actually built on what the consumer desires, giving them exactly what they think they want out of the brand.

Staging is a term most likely to come out of a theatre text; it's also an ultimate weapon in the art of persuasion. Persuasion, like theatre, requires entertainment, setting, and thought provoking material. The persuader knows once you engage a consumer and he likes what he sees, you have him. In staging persuasion, the tone is set, the curtain pulled and the spectacle begins. Bernays states, "Very often the propagandist is called upon to create circumstance that will eventuate in the desired reaction on the part of the public he is endeavoring to reach." Staged Persuasion should have no loose ends, it must be perfect; every act, flawless, every word and action implemented precisely as planned.

The up and coming airline Song staged an event to attract potential customers. The event was a hip party in New York City with dancing, drinks and lots of fun. At first glance, this party resembled any found in New York City. However, eventually one will notice the branded cushions on stylish seating or the Song airplanes used in the simulator that's popular with the male party goers. Everything in this party is staged from the songs the disc jockey plays, the type of food being served, to the type of tray the food is being served on. Marketers want consumer to think of Song as a fun airline. In the end, the party was effective.

In Manipulation of public opinion, Bernays writes about the civil rights efforts of the NAACP for southern African Americans. The NAACP decided to dramatize an event at their annual convention. Everything from the date, time, and audience members was arranged and part of the plan. In Bernays' words "The scene had been set, the acts of the play followed logically." In the end we saw a beautiful production in which southern Christian leaders both black and white stood in support of equal rights and against Jim Crow laws and lynching. This staging was to show that African Americans and White Americans can come together and fight segregation, even in the south. The event was a big success.

In political campaigns of all levels, a candidate's every step is staged, even the words that they used is for some bigger purpose. In his article "The Word Lab", Nicholas Lemann takes us into the secret world of persuasion through words. Lemann explains "there is no Word Lab per se...There are however virtual Word Labs which generate rhetorical strategies that are deemed to be politically effective, and then put them into the hands of candidates". These "word labs" are great tools for candidates including George Bush, and Hilary Clinton to name a few. The Word Lab is based off of the thoughts and opinions of common American citizens. Pollsters like Frank Luntz study the affect of certain words on the American public through study groups. The results of these studies are recorded and put into the hands of politicians. Luntz states, "The whole point of a word lab is to find out what voters already think and then design rhetoric to persuade them that politicians agree with it." The politician is then able to give the people what they desire, or at least make the people believe that to get votes. Barry Goldwater states: "The way to persuade people is not to present them with a new thought but to find out what people already think and tap into it." Word Labs are a great aide in political staging of persuasion. Frank Luntz takes a step further by stating even the order in which words are said has an impact on its audience. The stage is very important in the process of persuasion, like foreplay, once the mood is set, and the strategies and acts have made you feel good, the grows and you beg for whatever the persuader is offering you.

Pop culture is one of our biggest influences. We are a star struck society that moves with the tides of the rich and famous. The persuasion industry has taken note of our fascination and has used it to their advantage. Recently we have seen a rise in celebrity politicians, these men and women have succeeded in persuading the American public that they are the best candidates for the job; most of the time, they are not. We elect the Jesse Ventura's and Schwarzenegger's because they are popular, a trend reminiscent of high school days when the cheerleaders and jocks won school elections over the smart students.

Another example of the persuasive power of the rich and famous is the legendary "got milk" campaign. Celebrities from all over Hollywood are showing off their mustaches in advertisements for milk. The "got milk" campaign has been active since 1993 and continues to greatly influence dairy consumption in the United States. This type of persuasion is what Rushkoff describes as "advertising the people will not only tolerate but will actually go in search of." Milk has and continues to sell, not because of health benefits, nor the taste; milk sells because of its celebrity base. America wants the milk mustache because the rich and famous sport it.

Product placement is an innovative and clever means of advertising to the technological savvy public. Rushkoff states: "If viewers are skipping the commercials to get to the programs, why not be apart of the programs themselves." Subtleties like a can of Pepsi in a sitcom or a slight focus on a main characters' Nike in a movie are the new generation of advertising. The hit show "Sex and the City" devoted an entire episode to Absolut's new drink, the Absolut Hunk. In this episode, an entire storyline is built upon this new drink; the response, "Sex and the city viewers were introduced to a brand new drink; one that their favorite television characters drank. The viewers went further by seeking out the Absolut Hunk. In the end, the Absolut brand was able to persuade the consumer that their new drink was cool, way before they tasted it.

Persuasion is an industry , which thrives on its ability to make the public lust, covet, and hunger for their product. They succeed by using a foreplay of sorts; they make a deep emotional connection, and convince the consumer that what they have is all he/she needs; physically and spiritually. They stage everything perfectly, every action, word, movement, planned specifically to stimulate all of the consumer's senses. The persuader also shows that submitting to his foreplay is a wise and popular decision; "your favorite celebrity does it all of the time," he tells you. Through these techniques, the persuader is able to entice the public until they grab hold of the product, or idea and consume it not by force, voluntarily.