Commercials

Commercialized: Why, not What

"Our judgement concerning the worth of things, big or little, depend on the feelings the things arouse in us." - Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How it Transformed the World

Commercials embody this. They thrive off it. Facts and figures and defenses of why a certain product is better than another does not sell a product - emotionally connecting is what sells.

It's Simon Sinek's, "Start with Why" argument, "People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it." Nietzsche agrees, "He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how."

And commercials pull at the emotional whys of living,, not the rational whats. 

Commercials like this:

How a gorilla playing along to Phil Collins relates to milk is beyond me. But I'm hooked and have watched this video literally hundreds of times. I've even used it in class and professional development meetings because it is fully entertaining and emotionally appealing. Facts about Cadbury are boring and useless and, really, is it any better than the other 100 Dairy Products in the world? Probably not. But none of them have a drumming gorilla. 

Some do have humor though:

During the Falcons vs Patriots Super Bowl, companies took to commercials to air their grievances (and probably hopefully boost their sales) and Trump didn't like it. Here are the Seven Super Bowl Commercials that were banned because they hoped to "increase awareness, not sales."