Driving around Joburg exposes you to PLENTY of ads.
To be clear, I don’t mind ads if they’re good.
Most are not, though.
I suspect the woke movement, which insists on everything being vanilla, has something to do with that. But I don’t have data to prove my point. I’m simply using the opportunity to rail against wokeness.
One thing that strikes me about advertising is the self-centeredness of it.
Most ads are targeted at the individual.
Indeed, social media is set up to make the individual feel like they’re the most important thing in the universe.
That’s horrific, but whether it is or not’s beside the point.
The point is, advertising caters to man’s inherent need for validation; a need to be seen and appreciated. It actually goes deeper than that. It targets fear and greed, using the same basics a trader makes money on.
You won’t get the respect you obviously deserve if you don’t drive the shiny car in this ad. And you won’t get the ladies if you don’t use this deodorant. And winners take their families to this restaurant.
This product, or that service, is going to turn you, Mr. Loserpants, into your friendly neighbourhood winner. But only this product. Or service.
It’s not hard to see why it works. It feels good to be appreciated, lekker to be useful; nice to be the centre of attention.
But we’ve taken the love of self to a whole new level. (We have far too much of it built into us already, but no, we’re not content.)
We need to be told, once again, until tomorrow, that we’re awesome.
There’s not much room for the collective in this picture.
It’s me, myself, and I, all the way.
Dis malligheid.
It’s counter-productive to a fulfilling life, and it’s not how we want Lush Yummy nut butter eaters to behave.
We want our nut butter to be shared.
Ja, okay, you could argue that we’d obviously want you to share your nut butter so you go through a jar of delish quicker in order to koop nog.
And yes, of course we’d like it if you buy more nut butter from us.
But I think we need to step away from the obsessive me-centeredness.
One of my favourite quotes of all time goes as follows…
The world’s smallest package is a man wrapped up in himself.
Some attribute the quote to professional kite flyer, Ben Franklin, who happened to have founded a prominent country on the side.
It’s a scathing indictment against the mirror warriors filling countries across the globe; men who can’t stop gaping at themselves, telling themselves just how awesome they are. And it’s probably because their mommies told them how awesome they are.
It’s the same type of person who wouldn’t share their nut butter.
I hope you’re not like that.
I hope you prefer to share stuff, especially your nut butter.
And I hope you’re so generous that you don’t even mind if someone eats it straight out of the jar; maybe even using the same spoon as you.
Now visit the shop page, order some nut butter, and share it with someone.
Doesn’t matter who. Friends, family, enemies. Everyone should Lush Yummy nut butter.
The more nut butter flows, the better for all…of those who make and sell Lush Yummy nut butter.
Consider yourself virtue-signalled.