Yesterday while I was watching the 200m race, i saw Usain Bolt grab a camera from a Sports journalist and click away. Later it was all over the news. Many thought he was exploring the photo enthusiast part of his persona, but I wondered - How much would he have been paid for this? I mean top sportsmen who have worked hard to be where they are, don't even drink a cola for free on the street (they can actually be sued if they are photographed drinking a rival cola anywhere) why would he grab a new Nikon D4 introduced in January, on one of the biggest nights of his career and do the best kind of advertisement (one that looks natural) in one of the most watched moments around the world.
Marketing runs so deep in the system that you can never be sure if you really want some thing or you have been subconsciously suggested to want it. If you see the expression "The Beast" of Yohan Blake, that he does when he is being introduced at the start or during celebrations, he almost resembles the Puma which is his sponsor. Now that is some clever shit, and I wouldn't be surprised if that celebratory stance is actually paid for( how it works is it draws your attention to the logo he is also wearing on his jersey while he is on the screen and so registers it on your brain).
I see so many amateur photographers, who all incidentally have found out that photography is a good hobby to have and develops you artistically just when the digital camera technology was becoming economically feasible and companies needed a market now that they had the product. That maybe partly true, but I am sure a tabla or painting offers equally satisfying artistic experience, but they have no takers. World is full of people who have little idea of what they want, they are just being manipulated everyday.
I am skeptical to an extreme (from experiences of course), to be aware of what i really want and what is being pushed by some party. I did not even read the Harry Potter series when it first came out and became a hit (well that was my loss), because even mainstream literature is usually shitty, like Chetan Bhagat or a Fifty shades of Grey. I let it grow stale and if it is any good it will stand the test of time. And then I will read/consume it when I am sure it is not me who is being monetized. Also the body of literature is so vast out there that if you are reading the best sellers, you are probably just lazy not to find out where all the good stuff is.
Monetizing everything runs very deep in capitalist culture. For example in many countries marijuana was not banned until few decades ago. It was a policy pushed by the US because as a vanguard of capitalism it is principally opposed to Marijuana as it is very hard to monetize. Of course Alcohol is much more harmful than marijuana, but that is legal. Because you can grow marijuana at your home and be satisfied, it is illegal. It is not good business and it is also not good for business.
Marketing runs so deep in the system that you can never be sure if you really want some thing or you have been subconsciously suggested to want it. If you see the expression "The Beast" of Yohan Blake, that he does when he is being introduced at the start or during celebrations, he almost resembles the Puma which is his sponsor. Now that is some clever shit, and I wouldn't be surprised if that celebratory stance is actually paid for( how it works is it draws your attention to the logo he is also wearing on his jersey while he is on the screen and so registers it on your brain).
I see so many amateur photographers, who all incidentally have found out that photography is a good hobby to have and develops you artistically just when the digital camera technology was becoming economically feasible and companies needed a market now that they had the product. That maybe partly true, but I am sure a tabla or painting offers equally satisfying artistic experience, but they have no takers. World is full of people who have little idea of what they want, they are just being manipulated everyday.
I am skeptical to an extreme (from experiences of course), to be aware of what i really want and what is being pushed by some party. I did not even read the Harry Potter series when it first came out and became a hit (well that was my loss), because even mainstream literature is usually shitty, like Chetan Bhagat or a Fifty shades of Grey. I let it grow stale and if it is any good it will stand the test of time. And then I will read/consume it when I am sure it is not me who is being monetized. Also the body of literature is so vast out there that if you are reading the best sellers, you are probably just lazy not to find out where all the good stuff is.
Monetizing everything runs very deep in capitalist culture. For example in many countries marijuana was not banned until few decades ago. It was a policy pushed by the US because as a vanguard of capitalism it is principally opposed to Marijuana as it is very hard to monetize. Of course Alcohol is much more harmful than marijuana, but that is legal. Because you can grow marijuana at your home and be satisfied, it is illegal. It is not good business and it is also not good for business.
Nice! I agree! Our society has become highly materialistic and we don't even realise why we want things which we hardly ever need. We are systematically bombarded with ads that slowly embed themselves in our brain. It is a clever way of manipulation and we should be clever enough to see beyond it.
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