Pause is not for the faint of heart: a hit parade of phobias imposed by advertising

Anton Bulanov, CEO, Creative Director of LIVE! Creative/Marketing
Advertising Industry Magazine

The social function of advertising is a constant subject of discussion. "Morally immoral", "should – should not" – these are conversations in favor of the poor. In fact, advertising has developed a certain social function, and this function is far from humane.

Today we will talk about the neuroses that advertising induces in society, talk about fears and anxiety. Someone will say that I exaggerate, but this inhumane function of advertising removes the question of whether advertising should be talented. I apologize in advance for a small educational program – from a psychological point of view, everything is much simpler and clearer than from a creative or moral point of view.

First, about what neurosis is. According to the traditional psychotherapeutic point of view, coming from Freud, neuroses are generated by internal conflicts. Pushed into the deep, subconscious layers of the psyche, the conflict retains its dynamic potential and character, manifests itself in painful states, unpleasant memories, actively affects a person's thinking, feelings and behavior. Suffering from neuroses show the following symptoms: headache, dizziness, fatigue, digestive disorders, palpitations, pain, shortness of breath, insomnia, libido disorder, etc. A very common symptom is pathological fatigue, which is not facilitated by rest and is not explained by physical reasons. In severe cases, neuroses can lead to disability.

The most important signs of neurosis are fear and anxiety. Fear itself is generated by our ability to anticipate – a predictive function of the mind. If anticipating the pleasant creates positive emotions and can serve as motivation, then anticipating suffering creates fear. Since the types of suffering are diverse, there are many types of fears: loss of position, prestige; fear that your desires will be blocked by a lack of abilities or accidents; fear of experiencing pain, resentment, shame, envy, feelings of hurt pride, etc. And finally, the fear of death. The peculiarity of fear in the classical sense is its subject orientation. Fear is the expectation of something definite, anxiety is the expectation of an indefinite, but situational, "one-time". There is also existential anxiety – the expectation of the constant presence of unforeseen events in life. It's easier to live with fear if you know what to be afraid of. It is much worse when the source of the danger is not determined.

Homo reclamicusLet's finish with the concepts and return to advertising, or rather, to its "horror" function.

Here let's look at one fundamental question. Horror movies can be watched or not watched. At a circus performance, when demonstrating a deadly number, the faint-hearted are asked to leave. It's not like that with advertising. Media planning as a discipline is the science of how to show an advertisement unexpectedly, surreptitiously, when a person does not expect to meet her. Successful media planning, in fact, deprives a person of a choice whether to watch or not to watch the horrors that we have prepared for him.

Almost all communication in such categories as over-the-counter medications, medical services, anti-aging and therapeutic cosmetics is based on the activation of the primal fear of damage or destruction of the body. Let's try to recreate (at least in general terms) the picture of activated fears. What follows is a paragraph that I sincerely advise you not to read.

Let's look at homo reclamicus – the advertising man from the bottom up, so it will be clearer. It's not easy for him. Our fear show begins with foot fungus, which should cause itching and burning, as well as destruction of nail tissue. Next come the vessels (varicose veins and thrombophlebitis), which provoke premature fatigue. Epilation is certainly associated with the destruction of the body, no matter how necessary it may be. The range of joint problems begins with the knees, and then we move on to the hip area. Prostate diseases (prostatitis and adenoma), erectile dysfunction, hemorrhoids beloved by the people – all this can be refreshed in memory by watching TV, and at the same time – pain and the consequences of these diseases.

The gastrointestinal tract is reminded of itself by images of the stomach, intestines and esophagus constantly flashing on the screen. In the esophagus, by the way, courageous fighters with heartburn are swarming, some pills are always rolling in the intestines, normalizing the walls. In the stomach, too, someone is putting things in order. Therefore, the anthem of the generation is the phrase from the commercial of one drug: "Life is beautiful when there are no digestive problems!" Periodically an unhappy girl appears on the screen, looking into the distance, looking for a remedy for mastopathy that overcame her.

Let's go back inside, into the trunk! The heart, which is about to burst, the lungs (in which, if anyone has forgotten, Sputum lives). The nasopharynx, which is sawed and drilled, the throat, which is wrapped with barbed wire.

A separate conversation is a face on which, naturally, wrinkles, age spots, pimples, herpes on the lips, black dots (which, if you remember these "product sequents", mechanically acting on the skin, remove peels). One manufacturer of pharmacy cosmetics has been particularly successful – a face tightened with tourniquets, crumbling into a puzzle, cracking, etc. – all this is extremely effective in activating fears of destruction of the body. The dental theme is beneficial for us with caries, bacteria, periodontal diseases and bleeding gums. God knows what happens on the head, too: the hair shows fragility, insidious dandruff lurks between them. Hair falls out (a direct association with destruction), but not forever, but to painfully return through transplantation. Problem areas are indicated on the body. Previously, there was only a bikini area, and it was quite tolerable. Now the problem zones are the cleavage zone, the T-zone and even the A-zone unknown to me. Advertising of painkillers focuses on pain points on the body.

The fear of destruction of the body is complemented by other advertising fears, which are no less important. Let's highlight the fear of a car accident, fire (primitive fear of fire) and other fears of an accident, fear of rejection by representatives of the opposite sex, fear of bacterial damage to children (soap with triclosan completely solves this issue), common fears of infectious diseases, poisoning, environmental pollution.

It makes no sense to continue this list, let's look at the consequences.

Advertising reveals the essence of phenomena, desacralizes physiological processes, in particular, the processes of occurrence and course of diseases, aging processes. Thanks to this, the primal fears living in the subconscious become explicit and conscious. Realizing fear, a person builds so-called defenses (there are many varieties of them), pushing fear back into the subconscious, for example, with the help of an advertised product (there is protection in the form of a drug or cream). The constant building of defenses that displace fears is a heavy burden on the psyche, distracts a person's strength and resources.

The patient is involved in a constant struggle with hostile circumstances. He is afraid to drink, eat, touch, kiss, love… The world is filled with bacteria and viruses, diseases that are visualized thanks to advertising, and therefore understandable and close. People find symptoms of various diseases in themselves – it used to be called "fourth-year medical student syndrome". Anyone, even a poorly educated person, is vividly aware of what pathogenic processes occur in his body, looks closely at himself in the mirror, finding signs of aging every day. General anxiety, constant expectation of suffering provokes or exacerbates neurosis.

About the benefits of neurosisWhat is the role of my favorite neuroses and how much does society need a mass neurotic bacchanalia in general?

In the first approximation, neuroses are, of course, bad: at the macro level, they negatively affect labor productivity, obviously lead to an increase in mortality from cardiovascular diseases, affect the demographic situation, destroying families and increasing the number of impotents. But that's not all. An undeniable plus is that objective fears (for example, fear of bacteria) displace existential anxiety (we talked about this above), remove the need to reflect on the meaning of life, to be afraid, say, of non–existence and oblivion. This makes it easier for the population to accept the image of the future proposed by politicians. Neurotic personalities are generally more manageable and often even seek subordination, taking it for help. It is relatively easy to manipulate the consciousness of a neurotic person by offering a socially approved model of behavior as a way to overcome a negative state. Some neuroses even activate creative abilities (ow, colleagues!), but that's not all.

It is generally believed that historically the desire of people to unite in communities is based on greater efficiency of joint work in groups with specialization. Modern man has other reasons for sociality. At the time, Freud pointed out that the existence of civilization in itself makes a person neurotic, creating an internal conflict between nature and the social component of the psyche.

Starting with totalitarian societies, some forms of neuroses allow society to exist in precisely the irrational forms in which it exists. The most neurotic for a person is his inconsistency with the ideal image of the "I", the formation of which is engaged in society (including through propaganda and advertising). Examples of such ideals were the images of a "Soviet man" or a "true Aryan" in the respective cultures. The feeling of guilt that arises as a result of inconsistency with a hypothetical social ideal was one of the strongest methods of influence. To relieve tension, a person hides behind a social role, actively working for unattainable and unnecessary results, etc. By the way, this is what the modern HR industry is built on.

Another simple example of a socially useful neurosis is mass patriotism, which is usually built on the injection of an anxious feeling (for example, the search for an internal and external enemy) and the subsequent relief of the neurotic state through universal unity around the leader and his ideas. An anxious state, constantly recreated by advertising, forces a person to work more actively, to achieve a position and earnings, which creates the illusion of greater security.

I repeat, a neurotic person is psychologically dependent on others, he is not able to be independent, overcome his condition alone, he tends to people. This is one of the conditions that ensure the existence of human society. Society offers a person the idea of overcoming together and induces more and more neuroses to maintain himself. A person is attached to society, expecting from it, for example, a breakthrough solution to the problems of medicine and life extension. The conclusion is simple: neuroticization of members of society is not a by-product of the social system, but a necessary condition for its existence. It is precisely this function that advertising has been performing for society in recent decades.

Well, are you depressed, colleagues? Keep your head up! As Paul Joseph Goebbels, an outstanding advertiser of the recent past, used to say: "Have the courage to live in danger!" Let's therefore find our advantages in the mass advertising neurotization of the population. Anxieties and fears that a person cannot control and overcome sometimes lead to various mental disorders, and sometimes are their direct signs. Mental disorders – it is to them that civilization owes its geniuses, good and evil. Fears and geniuses are inseparable, so it looks like it will be fun. Don't you believe it? Let's turn to history.

Gaius Julius Caesar not only suffered from epilepsy, but was also terrified of a thunderstorm, at the first sounds of which he rushed for cover. Napoleon was afraid of white horses, Goethe was afraid of heights. Leo Tolstoy not only loved children – he was afraid of death and suffered panic attacks. At such moments, he could run out of the house undressed (that was fun!). Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol not only proved that manuscripts burn beautifully. He was afraid of being buried alive. In his will, the writer demanded not to bury him until cadaverous stains and signs of decomposition appear on the body. Freud, our Freud suffered from a fear of open space. Peter I was afraid of insects, and Hitler was afraid of dirt, so he took a bath several times a day and hated masseurs fiercely. Stalin suffered from a panic fear of poisoning. I wonder what would happen to the above-mentioned characters if they watched today's advertisement?

Let's scare the population even more! There will be more interesting and bright personalities for us. Let's use our talents to create highly artistic images of bacteria, since only today about 10 thousand species have been described, and it is assumed that there are over a million of them. Let's show the people not Kuzkin's mother, but Kaposi's angiosarcoma and systemic lupus erythematosus! I'm telling you, it's going to be fun. Already today, according to various sources, from 9 to 16% of the population of large cities suffer from phobias (chronic fears) of varying severity. Go ahead, especially since it's not difficult. People with mental disorders will make our life more interesting.

Phobias: from A to ZAnd now the bonus.

Out of several hundred phobias, I made my own hit parade and provided it with short comments - so that it would be a little more pleasant for you to read this list! The full list is ready to send to those who wish (write: anton@boulanov.com ). Dig into yourself and your friends – you will definitely find something. And at the same time, the collection can be used for creative inspiration. For the purposes outlined above. Amen.

Alectorophobia is a fear of chickens. It can spread to chicken-flavored noodles, "fast food" and even mayonnaise. And then – disaster!

Alliumphobia is a fear of garlic. Exclusively into the hands of chewing gum manufacturers and apologists of lactic acid bacteria. Inflate to the skies.

Arakibutrophobia is the fear that peanut butter will stick to the palate. With this fear, I wake up and fall asleep, it is he who poisons my life.

Arrhythmophobia is a fear of numbers. Eliminates the need to specify the phone number, price and even the amount of discounts on sales in advertising.

Atazagoraphobia is the fear of forgetting something or being forgotten. "No one is forgotten and nothing is forgotten" – Olga Bergholz solved this problem once and for all.

Atelophobia is a fear of imperfection. It would be nice if everyone had such a phobia. Especially the authors of the "Advertising Industry" who write about creativity.

Bromidrosyphobia is a fear of body odors. It is strongly recommended to advertise this phobia at the expense of the Moscow Metro.

Hellenologophobia is a fear of complex scientific terminology. It would be nice to knock someone on the head for difficult articles in the "Advertising Industry".

Hypengiophobia is a fear of responsibility. The syndrome of the top manager of the penultimate link.

Hippophobia is a fear of horses. Another reason not to watch "Blonde in Chocolate".

Deipnophobia is the fear of lunch and dinner conversations. I'm still afraid of business lunches and afternoon tea, aren't you? Capable of killing a good half of the snack category!

Cyberphobia is the fear of working at a computer. It should be indicated in the resume in order to avoid questions at the interview.

Contralto–phobia is the fear of sexual harassment. Harrasment – he is harrasment. Only American lawyers are not afraid of him.

Lakhanophobia is a fear of vegetables. I personally am afraid of zucchini and fennel and naturally I get hysterical when I hear: "Drink vegetables!"

Mageirocophobia is the fear of cooking. Many modern girls suffer from this – the poor suffer, they do not find a place for themselves! Therefore, they delight us with dumplings and the growth of the "freezing" category.

Mottephobia is a fear of moths. A great plot for a commercial. A moth attacks a fur salon, a saleswoman sacrifices a wig and saves a mink coat.

Papaphobia is the fear of the Pope. I have not seen such, apparently, they are all sinners.

Papyrophobia is a fear of paper. If it applies to toilet paper and money, write it is gone.

Paralipophobia is the fear of not doing your duty. Ah, what a rare phobia! I wonder if this includes the fear of not fulfilling marital duty?

Proctophobia is a fear of hemorrhoids. Here it is, a national idea that unites and consolidates the nation: who among us does not mention hemorrhoids in vain ten times a day?

Siderodromophobia is the fear of riding a train. The sponsor of the phobia is JSC "Russian Railways".

Trichophobia is the fear of hair. A real scourge of catering!

Phonophobia is the fear of talking on the phone. The mass spread of this phobia would bring down the shares of mobile operators.

Phronemophobia is the fear of thinking. And this phobia is massive, but it doesn't bring down anything, oddly enough.

Ergophobia is a fear of working. Also a mass phobia, I judge by myself: the eyes are afraid, but the hands do… So, by the way, this article was born.

Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru09.10.2008