Cartoon 795: Slavery

Here is a thought.  Why for years has advertising become increasingly pervasive? More advertisement represents more costs to Advertisers. Why are Advertisers willing to pay greater sums?

Since just after the middle of the last century the American disposable income has been faltering. In fact most studies place the demarcation at 1970. The economics has been masked by the ubiquitous credit of the last several decades funding an expansive life style.

Today we can see income erosion through the undeclared inflation with everything going up, stagnant wages, rampant employment insecurity, under employment, reduction or loss of benefits and massive unemployment. The Advertisers are the victims of shrinking disposable income in the marketplace. They have to pay dearly to reach the right demographic in an effort to seduce buying. Advertisers have honed generating demand to an art form.

What tools do you employ in a shrinking market place? First you mine data on existing purchases and preferences. That is why FaceBook had such a high valuation. The belief was that it would be a treasure trove of data for marketing and a vehicle to market products and services. The second approach is test markets and focus groups. Loyalty and cash rewards programs are a form of focused marketing. The third approach is to facilitate the buying through liberal credit in the absence of ready cash. This represents a collusion on the part of banks and credit card companies with vendors.

People are faced today with having to triage their purchases. Increasingly basic necessities are eating more of their economic resources. Premium and vanity products are losing out in the larger mass market. They have become the domain of a select economic class. Even among basic necessities distinctions are being drawn.

The facilitator of slavery is the lure of the elixir of perceived desire generated through marketing. It chains you to the bondage of the only expansive economic opportunity - credit. Savings is not an option when there is nothing to save.

The solution is a more egalitarian society and all the wealth not flowing to the richest 1%. A corollary is to jettison the poltical system they own.