Now that sounds logical

[ashling]

[Scootaloo]

1. And do you run out and buy the product?

The question is itself dependent on the faulty logic of advertising.

See, the goal isn't to make you go "OH MY GOD I NEED THAT" and rush out to buy. The goal is to make you familiar with the product. To inundate you and make you associate the market with that particular product. To make that one product the "leading" product. it doesn't play off of ou desire for material goods, but rather it depends on us both being more comfortable with the familiar and being status-conscious.

Any given commercial spot is effectively meaningless and worthless; it's not the one commercial at one moment, it's the millions of commercials over the years. But the "logic" is that there can't not be commercials during the superbowl, and since a lot of people watch the superbowl, the market-operating brains of the advertisers figure there will be high demand for commercial time, and so their scramble inflates prices for that airtime.

A commercial during the superbowl is exactly the same as a commercial during M*A*S*H reruns. Exactly the same. It's the idea that there needs to be commercials, that creates those high prices; the inane ideas at work are what drive the competition for those slots, not the actual effectivness of them arketing technique.

[harmonicon]

2. If I put a cartoon on Einstein next to any bullshit text I came up with...

do you think people would take it seriously? I fucking hope not. Lets try.

Am I really supposed to believe that Optimus Prime wasn't included in early drafts of The Bible? He totally kicks ass and is better than Abraham, Kind David, and the J-man combined. He's a tractor trailer that turns into a robot and has guns, for God's sake!!

[mark67]

3. I think most people know the difference...

I've been fortunate to have traveled over most of the world and no surprise-people smoke, drink alcohol, do drugs, solicit prostitutes, live in states of poverty that would make Americans cringe, and yes-watch violent movies and play violent video games (the violence in in movies/games in certain parts of Asia is much worse than the US).

IMHO in the US it's all about the ease and anonymity with which people can purchase powerful hand guns, assault weapons, and high-capacity magazines. I think that's really the crux of the issue.

The other problem with the violent movie/video game argument is groups like the NRA take this issue and run with it to the exclusion of all other common-sense gun safety measures supported by most Americans. I say why help them with this straw man argument.