The Skeptic

You can fool some of the people all the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time." - Abraham Lincoln

In some of the recent McDonald's commercials, there is a character who refuses to believe that the Chicken Selects are either or free. When his companion says how tasty they are, he responds with "Why, because they say their good?" Their commercials are actually responding to the way a lot of people react to their previous ads: with skepticism. In a strange way, the advertisers are making fun of those that do not believe them, which is not at all uncommon in the realm of human behavior.
The commercials appear to be effective, since they asks "Why bother fighting us?" They're probably right, since the food isn't that expensive, and everyone is free to choose what they eat and where (money provided). I personally do not like the Chicken Selects, and would much rather go to one of my local sandwich shops. I think the guy is just trying to be cool by not looking gullible.
No one likes to be decieved; it makes them feel very vulnerable and stupid, and possibly angry. Lots of people put up huge walls so they will never have to feel that way. The same is true for the skeptic in the commercial. That's not to say we shouldn't be careful about things, just that you can only be so careful. No mater what, every person will be fooled sooner or later, and going great lengths to protect yourself from it is pointless, at least in my opinon. Getting fooled once in a while is apart of being human and getting anywhere in life: we just have to trust some things to get anywhere. It may even be true that the more that we try to block it, the harder it will eventually hit us in the face.

By the way, your shoes are untied.

Human Behavior | To Think or Not to Think...

We are discreet sheep; we wait to see how the drove is going and then go with the drove
-Mark Twain

Like most people, I don't like waiting for the signal to change before I cross the street. That's fine of course as long as I'm careful about it. Yet, I'm often boggled at the number of people who take that as a cue for them to cross as well, without even looking. What's worse is that some take the cue to cross from the opposite direction. (There may be plenty of time for you to pass in front of a car a half-block away coming from the left, but not for the person looking at you from the other side of the street.) Are they really trusting the judgement of me, a complete stranger rather than evaluating the situation for themselves? They should know that I'm not looking out for their saftey and what applies to me does not neccessarily apply to them. Or have they really thought about it, and don't mind the chances of getting caught in a potentially dangerous situation?

My main question: How many ideas do people just assimilate without even questioning them? Is there a difference in this between smart and dumb people?

I consider myself pretty smart, so I watched how I reacted to someone else crossing the street when the light was still red. I ignored the people walking from the other side of the street. When it was a person on my side, I took a little less time evalutating so I could be going at the same time. There were times where I played it safe and didn't follow a person, and some people did the same too. It was almost funny to see how each additional person crossing causes so many more to join.

Walking in groups does seem to be less dangerous. than walking alone. This assumption may not be so misguided, since a driver is more likely to see two people than one person and stop. Drove-like behavior is probably instictual, but that doesn't mean it's always correct.

All the problems of the world could be settled easily if men were only willing to think. The trouble is that men very often resort to all sorts of devices in order not to think, because thinking is such hard work.
Thomas J. Watson

Well, I'm not sure all of the problems of the world could be solved, but people don't seem to enjoy thinking very much. Actually, we like to make others think for us. Maybe it's frightening to see what their brains can come up with, or that they underestimate their ability to think. When someone looks like they know what they are doing, it's easy to believe them.

Human Behavior | Saying You're Sorry

I very much disagree with the quote "friendship/love means never having to say you're sorry." I'm sorry if I take the quote too seriously, but I still think it could lead to a lot of trouble.

First of all, it raises high expectations for love and friendship. It may imply that you know each other so well that you could tell the other is sorry just by "sensing" it. No one is perfect at mind-reading. Verbal communication is very important, and as far as I'm concerned, "when you assume, you make an ass out of you and me." A lot of interpersonal fights can occur due to misunderstandings, and a simple mistake could easily seen as a deliberate sign of neglect. Why risk it when you can just say the simple word?

Second, it implies that you could never hurt one another. Since you love each other so much, it just isn't possible. And even if you did, he/she would understand. I have to say, this is an extremely naive assumption. It is very easy to hurt one's feelings, especially when you are close to him or her. This could be intentional or unintentional. People do feel hurt even when they do understand what the other is thinking. Keeping it under the covers isn't going to help, either.

It also says that everything you do is correct, and that person needs to accept that, no matter how they feel. You definitely aren't perfect, and neither are your friends. Mistreating them and expecting them to accept it, is most likely going to land you in a fight and/or the end of your friendship/relationship. (The exception here is for a very sick relationship... But I digress)

Perhaps the phrase was meant to distinguish true love/friendship from a non-personal relationship where you have to say you're sorry a lot. Maybe in that case, you're not really thinking about the other person's feelings, or they're not thinking about yours. And that's fine for nonpersonal relationships, like with classmates and coworkers, and someone you accidently spilled coffee on. With all the impersonal incidents that we go through everyday, it is easy to long for something so magical and interpersonal that nothing needs to be said. But this might be a dream.

Why you should say sorry:
I can't say if all this applies for long term relationships, having no experience in one. But, I would not underestimate the word. Don't get me wrong; It doesn't magically solve problems, and no one should expect it to. Nevertheless, people do make mistakes, often at the expense of others. Saying sorry sincerely shows that it was just a mistake, and not something deliberate and mean.

Saying sorry is a hard thing to do, and a lot of people don't like to do it. Somehow not having to say it has become part of the rosy picture of ideal friendship or ideal love. But it just doesn't work that way, at least not with humans. If there is anything to look forward to, it's that sorry can be said very many different ways.

Disclaimer

I state that everything here in this blog is either 1) opinion or 2) common belief to the best of my knowlege. I have no credentials nor do I make any claim of having any credentials to offer any professional or business related advice. I am not responsible for any use of the ideas within.

Bear with me, I might actually start to regularly contribute to this blog. I happen to be very interested in advertising even though it is only a hobby of mine. So, I wouldn't be surprised if many of these entries have to do with advertising. For now, I will not exclude thoughts from my personal life.

AOL & McDonalds TV ads

Sometimes I worry how much people are brainwashed to death by television commercials. Case in point: AOL and McDonalds. Recent AOL ads show a number of people acting ignorant about internet threats. It is true that many net users are ill-informed about internet safety, but I highly doubt that people are that ignorant. The point is beaten to death, ad-nauseam. Ironically, the people they are mimicing in their commercials are the ones using their service: people who have little idea how much they are overpaying. There are plenty other providers out there that offer the same services for much cheaper than AOL. People actually have very little reason to pay so much for internet service, which is why AOL is so desperate in the first place. And that makes it worse: how can people trust a service that's so desperate? They have always been #1 in annoying people enough to use their service, and now that may be the cause of their downfall.

McDonalds knows one important thing about human psychology: the more people are exposed to a message, the more they like it. They have also beaten their message "I'm lovin' it" to death, trying to revert their unhealthy image. (pun intended) However, their food is still unhealthy. But it doesn't seem to matter, since they are just targeting people's stomachs, and the people who love their food anyway. Wendy's has taken a much better approach by offering healthy side-dishes, and I wouldn't be surprised if McDonalds and Burger King will start to as well.