The mind tricks they play!

Some time back, I brought Horlicks for my son, and with it came a free pack of "Avengers Infinity Wars- Super Hero cards'.

I and my son loved playing the cards game. The cards looked like this:

(Src:https://www.reddit.com/r/marvelstudios/comments/b6ijhm/my_infinity_war_not_so_limited_edition_trading/)

Each playing card has certain characteristics. They are (in order): Height, Intelligence, Strength, Speed, Super-Power. A number was assigned in front of each attribute on each card. 

Let us take a close look at one of the cards:

This card game made my lockdown life a little easier as I could keep my child engaged for about an hour in a day. Thank you, Horlicks for rolling out these cards as without even watching any movie my child became an Avengers fan.

Although this game is fun to play with, it has made my child believe that Thanos is unbeatable. Here is the card:

This is how mind tricks are played on the public by successful advertisers. The method employed is so simple that we even don't realize that we have fallen into the trap and that method is repetition. The advertisers bombard our brains with useless information and hearts with short-lived fake feelings through this simple technique of repetition.

Think of the last product/service you brought for its quality rather than being influenced by its recurring advertisements. They hijack all the communication mediums to reach us (digital and non-digital). The agenda of the product seems so natural and facile that we, customers get captivated by the perfectness of the product/service.

The number assigned to cards were random, otherwise, Thanos could not have been unbeatable. But, this created an everlasting impression on my child's brain and I have played this card game so many times that for a short moment I started believing the numbers written on the cards.

Most of the time the advertisers succeed in creating an everlasting impression by confusing the commoners so that they start believing in the product/service forever. We keep on seeing things until we fall for them. We might not understand the products/services we purchase, still, we believe in them. Apart from the headline (with which was the shampoo was sold it to you), what else do you understand about your shampoo or any other product/service? Neither do I.

Think of any social stigma like caste system, a religious minority, gender-based violence, mental or physical health-related problems, or the education system or the fashion, our brains have been swamped with the information since birth. Our minds have been trained in such a way since we were infants that we take the appropriate position in the society or at least we don't fall out of the prescribed system. The overwhelming amount of information is passed such that our mind and our thoughts and decisions thereto are directly affected. 

The PR campaigns the actors, politicians, and the businessmen run for their benefit by keeping us in dark is another example of great advertising.

All I want to communicate is that we must be consciously aware of what we are repeatedly engaging with? As it creates an everlasting impression in our minds and sometimes we might lose the track between need and wants, useful and useless information and issue, which in turn could greatly affect our decision making.

Because seeing makes us believe and believing makes us do.

Thank you for reading :-).

Have a good day.