dgriffith

dgriffith, 1 year ago

The human brain is hardwired for an “Us vs. Them” viewpoint. As Bush once said, “You’re either with us, or you’re against us.”

Advertisers, politicians, and those that seek to influence, they know this. They don’t project any shades of grey or balance into their arguments. They attempt to “match groups” with you, and then point out that other group, over there, aren’t they terrible, we should do something about that.

So you get videos going, “Look at those shoplifters, doing wrong things! We’re glad that they’re getting their just desserts, aren’t we?”

They don’t show anything that might evoke some empathy in their target audience. You don’t want people to identify with your enemy, you want them to identify with you.