The Persuaders
Fascinating Frontline episode called "The Persuaders." It describes current advertising strategies for persuading people to consume or to vote. It ended with the quote: "The secret of all persuaders is to convince [the audience] to persuade themselves."

Some standout ideas:
-Getting through the clutter while adding to the clutter.
-Being so inundated with ads that culture itself is gone.
-Desensitization to superlatives (cleaner, brighter, stronger, faster)
-Creating iconic devotion by mimicking cult strategies of belonging and purpose.
-Madison & Vine = marriage between product & entertainers/entertainment (i.e. product placement) but it goes both ways.
-Narrowcasting = advertising tailored to the specific individual.
-Fragmenting of society -- as each person's focus is turned evermore to self fulfillment.
-Finding the elusive "buy button"
-Research groups still work but it has taken on more sophistication through psychology, information farming, etc.

So where are we? Strategic (time & place) use of words, images, sounds in a way that bypassing the intellect, so that people respond to it emotionally, positively, personally, and primally -- yet make the proper association. That's the catch.

Some brands that have succeeded in this: Nike, Apple, Coca-Cola, AT&T

One strategy not addressed in Frontline was viral marketing. As opposed to persuading self we now persuading each other to consume through reviews, blogs, casts, tubes, avatars, online communities -- self-deception by self-exalting through self-expression. I'm no exception. It's not quite perpetual motion. So advertisers now employ the patient zeros for such viral weapons. Our reaction to such zeros is quite violent given our mistrust of corporations, just look at the reaction to Lonelygirl.

Hot concepts this year are Green & Africa. Perhaps we're finally realizing the products are not making us happier, more attractive, etc. so purpose now turns towards saving the world.

Wow, Pursuit of Happyness was #1 at this weekend's box office. Unexpected. I was planning on possibly borrowing/rent ing DVD viewing when it is out of theaters and that's it. However, a good friend says it has become one of his favorite movies so I'm giving it a 2nd look.

Rocks are deaf and dumb as idols, but if we remain silent they can shout God's glory.

Recently read In the Presence of My Enemies. What a story. It honestly chronicles the time Martin and Gracia Burnham, missionaries who were kidnapped and held hostage by the Islamic terrorists Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines for over a year in 2001 (9-11 happened during their captivity). It is amazing how God sustained them as their faith was tested.
It was a lesson in prayer and thankfulness as that's where it often led me as I read.
It also provided insight into the Muslim extremist worldview (so fatalistic) and Filipino culture.

I've resisting but I've decided to add Google Desktop to my growing list of Google tools after seeing it's usefulness on other people's computers. Aaaahh can't resist further integrating with the Googopoly collective of information.

I attended the wonderful annual Christmas concert at the Moody Church. It was so uplifting and a chance to rest in the peace of God. God is the God of all comfort.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

Ate dinner at O'Brien's Restaurant, a place for steak with the usual expected high steak prices. The meat was decent. The priciest menu item, rib eye steak ($41), was well seasoned. The prime rib ($26) had some flavor, but some cracked black pepper would have definitely helped. I'm not sure if I would return, but I'm not a big steak person. After dissecting all the fat off I was left with ~2/3 meat. My friends say Japanese like fatty meat. Wish they had sauteed mushrooms as a topping option, but it seems the selection of side consists mainly of potatoes. I can't complain about the service, though metromix.com reviewers repeatedly panned O'Brien's for horrendous service.

U.S. Quitting?
There has been a flurry of media regarding the Iraq Study group report, among which is the Washington Post. Near the bottom of the Post article is this paragraph:

Quang X. Pham, author of a memoir about his service in the U.S. Marine Corps and his father's time as a pilot for the South Vietnamese military, said he considers the troop plan a thinly disguised form of quitting. "In one year, during the 2008 election year, the United States will abandon and betray Iraq as it did South Vietnam," predicted Pham, who was a pilot during the Persian Gulf War.

This was in response to the report's recommendation for near complete withdraw of troops from Iraq by the start of 2008. Pham's comment reminds me of how in the 1st Gulf War the U.S. called the Iraqi's to rise up against Saddam Hussein's government; Iraqis did but the U.S. did not come to back them up, so those people were massacred by Hussein. Will the people again be left to the wolves - that influx of chaos into Iraq? With all this call for withdrawal, is the U.S. giving up on them? There was so much (bipartisan) celebration and hope at the start of the war to bring positive change to the region. Will the region be stabilized in a year? Let's hope so.

I'm restless!!

Found a weekly podcast of expats in Taiwan.

I'm looking forward to the movie Children of Men, starring Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine, coming to theaters Dec. 25. Owen seems to always play cool.

Do people still use men or mankind as reference to the humanity's collective whole? It just does not have the same impact to say "Children of People," "Children of Human Beings," or even "Children of Humanity."

Curious. There is a God's blog.