"The Persuaders"

The Persuaders, a documentary exploring the multi-million dollar industry of persuasion, explores how and why are manipulated and persuaded by companies. The products of this industry are seen all around us, flashing lights, sensory adds, minimalist magazine pages, and catchy jingles on the radio. Their sole purpose is advertisement of hundreds of products in a bloodthirsty race in order to reach us, the consumers. This documentary was filmed in 2004, and even then recognized the impact that this superficial clutter that berates us through media has on society. I get annoyed by advertisements, and this documentary made me even more so. It bothers me that there are armies of computers essentially stalking me and attempting to understand my brain just to make me buy a product. In my opinion, it is unnecessary. There are so many better things that these resources and peoples time could go towards. It is a useless war that will never truly have a winner, it will just end with mountains of advertising clutter so high we cant think for ourselves. However, it seems to inevitable, so for now, I'll just be cautious and try to avoid it even more. I can do that through limiting my media usage so less information is gathered on what I like and there is less of a window for advertisements to reach me. Maybe they aren't completely bad, but they do influence us in ways we are not fully aware of.