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Comment by porpoisely | Hacker News Reader

I agree. The superbowl is a day long celebration of ads. Football is just a sideshow.

Now as for ads themselves, they've gone from selling products to social engineering and selling an agenda. Is this a result of monopolization of industries where megacorporations no longer are worried about competition? Is it just a result of media getting more and more extreme ideologically? Maybe both?

And it's not just ads. It's the entire media space. TV shows, movies, etc are more about ideology and agenda than art or even attracting an audience. Even award shows, best selling book lists, prizes, etc are more about agenda than anything else. Maybe it's always been that way to some degree, but lately, it's become so extreme that the average person can see it now.

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>Is this a result of monopolization of industries where megacorporations no longer are worried about competition? Is it just a result of media getting more and more extreme ideologically? Maybe both?

>more about agenda than anything else...it's become so extreme that the average person can see it now

I believe it's that companies will always do what they assess is required to sell more stuff. In this age of hyper-awareness, uber-politicization, and social-activism, it's likely the companies now believe that's what people want--for them to be engaged.

And, it's a somewhat rational conclusion. On the other end, you see boycotts, etc. when companies go against the beliefs of certain customer groups, or even when companies sponsor people who do. It's this idea that people want companies to do "good", or at least the customers' version of good. So, they are likely just tapping into that. It's where many people seem to be these days, so that's where companies are trying to meet them.

Companies do stuff like that because they think or have proved that it sells. I've heard and read that people increasingly don't want just products any more. They want a brand, a story, etc. That might not work for beer or TVs but that won't stop Budweiser and Sony from trying.

What happens when a marketer sends out a brand message which reaches theoretically maximal returns? Why, nothing. They come to work the next day and try to beat it.

Advertising isn't a job that's just "done" and people walk away satisfied. McDonalds isn't going to stop putting new things on their menu either. Capitalism doesn't really seem to work otherwise... If you produced the optimal product, you have to come back next year and produce an (almost-by-definition) less optimal product and sell it better than you did before.

Most companies do things because people are being paid at that company to do things. The assumption that they do things because they work better or are better should not be so easily believed or sold. I produce content for my employer because they pay me to produce content, not because I think I can produce content which is better than all other content. Just because people are running really hard doesn't mean they aren't going in circles.

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