Cluttered America

Most of us think of commercials as a simple way of promoting a product.  Throw an ad together, place in the product, air it on TV.  Sounds simple enough, right?  So it would seem, until viewers are given a more in depth look through the documentary titled The Persuaders by the group called Frontline.
In the beginning of this video a viewer would see that most of the commentators agree with the idea that America has become far too "cluttered".  One speaker makes the claim that people are so washed over by advertisements that they stop being aware of them.   The cause of this would be that advertisers would have to try even harder to create even more advertisements; attempts to break through the clutter would just cause more clutter.
The newest problem with commercials, it would seem, is that to keep up in the ever changing market, advertisements must adapt.  The cause of this seems to be that they are becoming more intangible, more emotional and even more ambiguous.  The problem is stretching so far that some consumers are having a difficult time even understanding what product goes to which commercial.
It would appear that advertisements have everything to do with how certain products, people, and their beliefs reach the consumer.  In a technique called "narrowcasting" areas are broken into certain demographic profiles.  Profiles based on income, race, and products bought, among other things, help advertisers decide which product to push to which group of people.  Being heard is the most important thing in advertising.  The need to break through the clutter of advertising people are hit with each day is the highest goal.
What might be interesting to one group might not directly appeal to another.  Thanks to narrowcasting advertisers have the ability to be aware of these differences.  Using strategic word placement is one way to sell to certain people.  In his interview Frank Luntz from The Luntz Research Companies explains that linguistics is the key to reaching people through advertisements.  Luntz explains that consumers must be reached on an emotional level; carefully chosen words being the best method.  An example of this is when he argues the use of "estate tax" by politicians.  The use of this phrase apparently caused an uproar, many voters refused to be in support of this tax.  Injecting himself into the problem Luntz makes the statement that, "The public wouldn't support it because the word 'estate' sounds wealthy".  Luntz then goes on to explain that instead of referring to it as an estate tax, it should rather be referred to as a "death tax".  His view is that nobody knows what an estate is, but everyone knows what it is to be taxed at death.  It would seem that something far off and intangible was more understandable to people.  Luntz drives home his point of the power of linguistics by saying this of the new death tax phrase, "[S]uddenly, something that isn't viable achieves the support of 75 percent of the American people".  It just goes to show the power that words have over certain people.
Another example of this might be how people feel about certain products thanks to certain advertising skills.  Some consumers might have an almost spiritual like relationship with their products.  They have a devotion and more than likely swear by their products, telling anyone in earshot about how great they are.  One specialist called Douglas Atkin had an experience like that one day.  Atkin describes overhearing a conversation in which, "[T]he terms they were using were evangelical".  What were they discussing?  Footwear.  Atkin goes on to claim that it sounded almost cult like, the adoration these people had for a pair of shoes.  So what does Atkin do?  He chooses to study cults and the devotion of people who fall into them in the hopes of using this knowledge to better reach certain consumers.
It would appear after watching this video that it's true how Douglas Rushkoff puts it, "It doesn't matter what you want to tell the public, it's about what they want to hear".