The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.
-Edward Bernays
Superbowls are among the most watched shows in Plato’s cave. The last one I watched was many years ago – the 49ers against I forget who – but I do remember that the game took place only a couple weeks before the big Meltdown of the Free Market, when the not so invisible hand rose up and smacked the shit out of the Money Machine. I also do not remember who won, but I do remember the adds: two main sponsors selling big trucks and viagra. For days I could not stop trying to deconstruct that, with an ever growing sense that those adds presaged something like Pride Before a Fall – the center could not hold for long – we’re in for a Cataclysmic Shakeup – and sure enough, just as I had succeeded in filing away the anxiety, the bottom fell out of the Hummer market and I believe it was China that purchased it at the basement sale and I hated to consider what that would turn out climate-wise. I regret not checking Viagra’s stock, as my first guess would be that it weathered the crash, as it’s cheaper to stand up one’s withered penis with a pill than a macho Bronco Macho Ram thrill.
The content of the adds as I remember it: violence of some form – mostly slapstick or silly cuffing, but one add stands out: a healthy hunk tackles an elderly woman and then, after the pitch for the metallic monstrosity, another tackle of an elderly man – the action believable initially, then, of course, just acting and preposterous, ridiculous, designed to to memorable and to concatenate the scenes with the trucks or tortilla chips and install “brand allegiance” into our psyches. There was also an add for the adds which informed us that we could go to our computers and view our favorites!
What to make of this? Millions are spent on these adds and would not have been spent unless the advertisers were confident that the sales they would prompt would more than cover their expense. But what happens when there is not enough money in the pockets of enough people to purchase these items? Borrowing has been the viagra that has enabled Americans to ‘get and keep it up’.