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How Your Insecurity Is Bought and Sold

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How Your Insecurity Is Bought and Sold

Mark Manson,

5 min read
5 take-aways
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M arketing may drive capitalism, but it doesn’t have to drive you.

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Recommendation

Beyond the basic necessities required for survival – food, water, shelter and basic clothing – why do human beings always want more? The answer is that modern marketing does its best to make people feel terrible and then offers them products as a “solution.” Author, blogger and entrepreneur Mark Manson explores the history of marketing tactics, analyzes the intrinsic link between marketing and capitalism, and argues that effective regulation of marketing’s messages lies not in government action, but with that of individuals. getAbstract recommends this compelling article to everyone interested in modern marketing’s history and tactics, as well as those concerned with their influence on society.

Summary

Every day, in nearly every aspect of life, the media bombard you with marketing messages. Businesses encourage you to buy products to solve your problems, real or invented. How exactly did marketing achieve its current prevalence in society? The answer begins nearly a century ago, with a man named Edward Bernays and a company called American Tobacco. In 1928, the tobacco industry had successfully integrated itself into the lives of American men, but women remained an untapped market – that is, until Bernays devised a way to counteract widespread...

About the Author

Mark Manson is an author, blogger, entrepreneur and personal development consultant who offers “self-help for people who hate self-help.”

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    R. V. 9 years ago
    I believe most of us know that modern marketing at its core has a negative message. And consumers are resisting it. Take for example all of the photoshop scandals and the viral reverse photoshop videos on Youtube.

    What really made me think about this article was how omnipresent that negative message actually is. And I like to think I don't see most of the ads anymore, but maybe the ads I think I don't see are even more dangerous than the ones I do see.