Branding A War. Madison Ave Sells us Iraq

[walldude]

Thanks to C&L for this link..

http://jeffrey-feldman.typepad.com/frameshop/2007/07/frameshop-secre.html

Can the same techniques used to sell corn flakes, ketchup and power drills be used to sell the Iraq policy to the public and extend the U.S. occupation long into the future? The Bush administration and the pentagon think so.

Madison Avenue To The Rescue
As more Americans called for an end to the U.S. occupation, the Pentagon secretly ordered a report on ways to extend it long long into the future with the help of "Madison Avenue" marketing techniques--the same techniques used to sell breakfast cereal and hardware products to the American public.

Now available for the public to read, (Enlisting Madison Avenue: The Marketing Approach to Earning Popular Support in Theaters of Operation, PDF File 1.37 MB), the report was prepared by the Rand Corporation and cost the American taxpayer $400,000 dollars.


They sell us the president the same way
They sell us our clothes and our cars
They sell us every thing from youth to religion
The same time they sell us our wars
I want to know who the men in the shadows are
I want to hear somebody asking them why
They can be counted on to tell us who our enemies are
But they're never the ones to fight or to die

-Jackson Browne, Lives in the Balance

[bobthedrummer]

1. Background archived thread "Reality vs. perception mangement: the tinfoil controversy"

from January 6, 2006
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x71919

[rainy]

2. Check out ad busters magazine. I think you'll like it. It's all about advertizing. n/t

[walldude]

3. I got in a big flame war awhile back with a promenent DU'er who also

happens to be in advertising, so I kind of avoid the subject these days. However this was pretty relevant so I posted it anyway. I haate advertising, that's why I don't watch TV unless it's recorded so I can skip the ads. Nothing makes me feel dumber than watching a TV ad trying to sell me something I don't need...

[rainy]

4. Have you ever seen an ad busters mag? If not you might like to visit

their home site. It's lots of fun and conceptually avant-garde!

www.adbusters.org

[walldude]

5. Thanks for the link, I'll check it out.

:toast: