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How Your Insecurity Is Bought and Sold
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How Your Insecurity Is Bought and Sold

Mark Manson
Mark Manson, 2016
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Beyond the basic necessities required for survival – food, water, shelter and basic clothing – why do human beings always want more? The answer is that modern marketing does its best to make people feel terrible and then offers them products as a “solution.” Author, blogger and entrepreneur Mark Manson explores the history of marketing tactics, analyzes the intrinsic link between marketing and capitalism, and argues that effective regulation of marketing’s messages lies not in government action, but with that of individuals. getAbstract recommends this compelling article to everyone interested in modern marketing’s history and tactics, as well as those concerned with their influence on society.

Take-Aways

  • Modern marketing strategies owe much to the innovations of Austrian-American pioneer Edward Bernays (1891-1995).
  • Building on the theories of his uncle, Sigmund Freud, Bernays sold products to American consumers by means of identifying and leveraging people’s insecurities.
  • The general pattern of modern marketing is this: Make customers feel they have a problem, and then posit your product as that problem’s “solution.”

About the Author

Mark Manson is an author, blogger, entrepreneur and personal development consultant who offers “self-help for people who hate self-help.”

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    R. V. 8 years ago
    I believe most of us know that modern marketing at its core has a negative message. And consumers are resisting it. Take for example all of the photoshop scandals and the viral reverse photoshop videos on Youtube.

    What really made me think about this article was how omnipresent that negative message actually is. And I like to think I don't see most of the ads anymore, but maybe the ads I think I don't see are even more dangerous than the ones I do see.