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Hi Aaron, Thanks for your answer to D's letter, I'm not a writer of any kind apart from my uni essays, but found it really interesting how writers end up doing ads. I really like that you have alot of talk about how marketing and advertising works on your blog. I was discussing your age article with a friend, and in particular the bit where you say: "how modern advertising works (or what, esssentially, it "is"): the connection of a product to a desire (either conscious or unconscious), so that the two mix, and the consumer desires the product, alongside whatever else the ad has aroused." I'd never really stopped and thought about how advertising is constructed and how it does what it does. It amazes me that people are constantly manipulated by this industry so blindly, but I guess I've been one of them! I didn't know til recently that you were from this industry, but in a bizarre way, it makes sense! Anyway thankyou for your articles, I've enjoyed them for a long time now and always look forward to coming here, where I never really know what I'll go away thinking about next! Steph Hi Steph, My goodness! You are writing essays at uni, aren't you? I love the way you referenced my article there - beautifully done! Your teachers would be proud! And thankyou very much for your lovely comments. As many know, I do struggle with time, when it comes to my blogging. I'm a busy boy who juggles far too many plates. But one thing I originally wanted to do on this site was have a section devoted to following and dissecting advertising campaigns. You hit the nail on the head, when you mentioned that the problem is really just awareness. I don't think you're in any way unique - and, quite frankly, I'm not really that unique because, yes, I work in the bloody industry, so yes, I get what's going on! Advertising is all a trick, really. It's just magic. It's not real - it's designed to fool you. But it's intelligently designed, yes. When I create an ad, I'm not in any way free to just let my imagination run wild (this is why I said in the previous letter that, ultimately, I don't consider what I do to adequately satisfy my creativity. I really do see the fact that I'm also a psychotherapist (that side of me) is more connected to my work in marketing, in so many ways. The thing is, if you understand the trickery, it can't trick you. And that's a matter of education, of course. So, yes, I definitely value my role here, in some tiny way, as educating people on the tricks of that particular trade. Once you change people's mindset, they take that with them to every ad break, if you know what I mean. You can start to free yourself of the consumer mindset - something very much under-rated in contemporary society. It defines our society, in so many ways. We even digest our politics, our entire experiences, from this perspective. You can't underestimate it. So I'm kinda like the Doctor Jekyl and Mr Hide of advertising and marketing. Clever businessman in the day; rebel bohemian at night! Thankfully, I recently changed my working life, and have become a freelancer, so I've got the balance more in my favour, now. It's not an industry I encourage people to go into, lightly - I probably should have made that clearer, when I so frivolously answered D's letter! But, you know, we have to pay our bills, at the end of the day - it sux, but it just is. This website absolves my sin. Doesn't it? ;) Cheers, Aaron
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