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Some of these companies are foreign owned. "Australian" products such as Vegemite, Rosella Tomato Sauce, Kellogs Com Flakes, Smiths Crisps, Minties, and 4 - Ps ! ° bate Dr. Ernest Hilgard, author of the Some advertisements are universal. For example, the of 3 Bear used in Huggie Fabric Softener commercials in pygst widely used texts in the Australia, is the same Bear used to sell Fa Fa Fabric < Softener in Japan. Despite vigorous advertising for field of hypnosis, states apparently competing brands or items like margarine, soap powder and soft-drinks, most are produced by just that'sitting quietly, with no two or three companies. ® ° Oligopolies have capitalised on the fact that they can sensory inpu ts aside fi rom the sell more if they package the item differently and aim at screen, no orienting outside the different markets. For instance, Unilever makes Drive, REA 2 Omo and Surf washing powders. Omo's platform is set is itself capable of getting ‘whiteness’, versus Drive’s which is a stain remover, ver- 4 2 “ sus Surf, which gives you a good all over wash. people to set aside ordinary The hair care industry is another example of the com- partmentalisation of the market; with products to condi- r eality, allowing the substitution tion, enrich, nurture and shine your hair; with shampoos p ® and porn beam antes children, hei a of some other reality that the set women, executives, families, the aged, the balding, people ma y offer. with coloured or permed, curly or straight hair; dry, oily, normal or dandruffed hair. Most hair care products contain one fossil-fuel based You can get SO imaginati vel y detergent. Some contain herbs which do nothing but pro- involved th at a Iternatives duce a smell of herbs. Others contain ground fish scales e d iil which cause the detergent to look pearly, and others are "medicated" for use on scalps which are undiseased. And temp orarily fa € away. some, in a world of acute food shortage, even contain pro- tein for no other reason than it sticks to the outer surface of each hair and makes it feel thicker. In the end it is just detergent that is packaged and mar- For government departments and statutory authorities, there keted. is money, of course, but even more, it is high profile, and For government departments and statutory authorities, there is money, of course, but even more, it is high profile, and because normal checks as to effectiveness (via extra sales) don't apply, departments are often allowed their creative heads. There is so much to take in during one nights viewing that, perceptual overload occurs. An evening of TV viewing is interrupted by commercial breaks every five or so minutes. These breaks last for 30, 60, 90, or 120 seconds. There is so much information coming at viewers over a short time, that they sit lethargically staring blankly at the screen. This is precisely what you are supposed to do. In this lethargic mode, when people are almost snoozing, more is taken in subconsciously by the mind. Have you ever wondered why people fall asleep in front of the TV? Viewers become passive recipients, on the treadmill of mindless consumerism, routed endlessly from one shopping centre to another, buying, buying, buying. Mass pro- grammed shoppers. Becoming absorbed in the pursuit of media popularised roles or fashions, in the vain hope of becoming loved, respected, rich, socially popular or sexually desirable. Sheep who venerate compulsive neurotic behav- iour as normal, desirable human contact. The state is a major and growing user of television. The government urges citizens not to drink and drive, to use seat belts, to buy government bonds, to utilise Telecom's ser- vices, not to use illegal drugs, and to help prevent the spread of AIDS. Television makes a good substitute for a baby sitter. It is the greatest pacifier. How many children (and for that mat- ter, adults) can repeat verbatim the contents of a television advertisement - simply because it is repeated over and over. Indoctrination begins at an early age with cartoons and “edu- cational” shows. A masterstroke of marketing has been in the area of chil- dren's toys, where toy companies create TV programmes that are based around toys. Examples include Kenner's Care Bears, Mattell’s Masters of the Universe, and Hasbro- Bradley's Transformers (toys that can change from vehicles to robots). Television is not only used to sell toys, but it is the TV series that makes the toys desirable and gives them animated qualities. Television dominates time. But also destroys communica- tion among family members. Our grandparents knew the neighbours, the people down the street and probably half of the local community. Today we are more isolated, sitting inside, watching our "Neighbours" on T.V. With everyone perceiving precisely the same image on a TV screen, there are no unique perspectives for individuals. TV cannot pro- Advertising is attractive to the government, it allows it to project the image it wants, and allows it to be seen caring. NEXUS¢13 PROGRAMMED WHILE YOU "SLEEP" TV - THE SOCIAL CONDITION OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 1992