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I was raised on advertising. Before the age of ten, I even recruited friends for TV commercials. One was featured on nationwide TV.
My father quit advertising when the FTC stepped in. They had to start telling the truth. It took all the fun out of it. Well, he was exaggerating. They simply had to not lie so blatantly.
Advertising is also what Limbaugh does. Because so many have opinions without first learning facts, then many (ie the most religious) will deny when facts and numbers finally arrive. That is Limbaugh's job. Tell the most naive how to think first. When reality appears, these most extremists will aggressively deny - even attack the messenger.
Need an example? See how ozone layer destruction was denied for so long. See discussions here in 2002 about Saddam's WMDs. Or see the few here some years ago who avvidly claimed Chevy is a good car even after facts and numbers said otherwise.
Why do many here use fluoride toothpaste? Or believe Pepto-Bismol’s pink coating relieves intestinal problems? I personally watched it all happen as a kid.
Childhood leukemia is traceable to electric power lines? Vitamin C averts common colds? Power strip protectors protect computers? All myths widely believed only because it was the first thing they were told. That is what advertising is all about. Get you to believe cigarette smoking is good for your health - so that many would later deny the Surgeon General's report. Advertising works because so many - a majority - believe the first thing they are told; don't first demand numbers and facts.
I was raised watching this happen – which is why I so often am a minority opposed to popular beliefs: ie Saddam’s WMDs, GM products, what MBAs do, the murder of seven Challenger and seven Columbia astronauts, etc.
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