The Hidden Persuaders

Hayden Hollingsworth
Hayden Hollingsworth

Such was the title of a book published in 1957 by Vance Packard. A newspaper journalist by trade, he eventually turned to books and The Hidden Persuaders is perhaps his best known. Social commentary became his genre and three of his dozen books written so long along seem to have had a prescience that makes them relevant today.

In 1959 he wrote The Waste Makers which introduced the concept of planned obsolesce. That is the presentation of a product that will soon be replaced by a “new and improved” model. Could Packard have possibly envisioned the avalanche of technology that would utilize his concept so pervasively? A new iPhone appears each week!

Even more startling is his 1964 book, The Naked Society, in which he saw a total invasion of privacy by devices of surveillance. Maybe Richard Snowden is Packard’s reincarnation. And finally, in 1989, seven years before his death, he published The Ultra-Rich: How Much Is Too Much? Income inequity revisited in the State of the Union address. The other eight titles are equally intriguing. Before his death he was honored widely and respected for his insights. I wonder if he is much read today.

What caught my attention and reminded me of The Hidden Persuaders is the mindless nature of today’s television advertising. The only thing that seems hidden is intelligence. Just a few weeks ago, I had some comments about the advertisements on Super Bowl Sunday and I have not been able to rid myself of some recurring observations.

It would be interesting to know (and I suppose if you major in advertising in business school, you could write a dissertation on it) when animals became such an influence in TV ads. They used to be cute and run hysterically to their bowls of Fancy Feast. That made sense: if we want to please our pets we should pay attention to the ads, never mind the poor cat hadn’t had a square meal in days before the filming.

I am more curious about when they gave up their natural state and assumed such endearing human qualities as speech and then intellect. We now have lizards that are underwriting experts for car insurance, lions that, with a supercilious manner, give advice on grocery shopping, and elephants that not only promote insurance, but are impeccably dressed on a 1920s-style suit, straightening wall-mounted video monitors and congratulating employees (real humans, not elephants) on excellent customer service. While amusing the first dozen times you see them, does it ever occur that there is no intellectual connection to the product they are selling?

The auto insurance industry seems particularly susceptible to the animation ad. But we mustn’t forget the ruby-lipped lady dressed as if she is a nurse. Not only does she expose her male competitors as complete dolts, she also hides in dark alleys whispering seductive product enticements and even levitates into an office scene. One wonders what that poor clerk has been smoking.

A special note goes to all the advertising during the nightly news. The next time a sprightly, bright-eyed girl accosts a busload of passengers with embarrassing questions about bowel problems, and everyone becomes instantly mesmerized, I think I would change bus routes. Almost all the ads in this time slot have to do with health problems, suggesting that if we weren’t sick we wouldn’t be sitting around watching the news.

The ED ads are the most evocative of wishful thinking. Two people, total strangers until their agents signed them up for the gig, give convincing performances which, for reasons that must escape even advertising executives, end up holding hands in separate bathtubs looking at what appears to be a nuclear explosion.

Nothing hidden about these persuaders but the ad men are onto something: We all know exactly which product they are promoting. Whether or not that would persuade me to rush out and become a patron is far from certain. But one thing is clear: it must be working or they would be out of business in short order.

It would really be interesting to know what Vance Packard would make of all this!

Hayden Hollingsworth

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