“Sex Sells”? No, Fear Sells.
Whilst sex as a sales technique still quite obviously exists and can be found in pretty much every medium, this technique is employed to a lesser extent in current times when compared to previous decades. As people have become more aware of sexism and misogyny, and many takes on ‘sex sells’ involve the objectification of women, it is chosen less often as it is not a universally popular draw.
Nowadays there is different motivation that is being sold to the general public — fear. If you look in any newspaper or on any social media site, it won’t be long until you find at least one article about the latest incoming crisis or the next thing that is going to kill us. That’s not to say that all such news stories aren’t true, but sensationalism certainly exists and this undue fear is perpetuated for a reason. Naturally, we don’t generally want to die or struggle in life, so it is in our nature to want to find out how to avoid this. However, it has got to a point where fear dominates our lives and we would struggle to cope without these stories which seemingly give us guidance and hold our hand through life.
Not only do we generally not want to die, but we also want to protect our health as much as possible. Companies, specifically target this weak point to exploit the public into buying products they don’t necessarily require. One example is with vitamins to help battle deficiencies; a balanced diet should eradicate the need for these in most cases. Many dairy products market themselves as being high in calcium (such as the old Petit Filous slogan “To Help Bones Grow Stronger”¹) even though most people are able to receive calcium from plenty of other food sources. Health also apparently equates to a very limited range of body types and a very specific BMI range. If we want to be healthy, we’re told that we need to fit a very specific look, and there are weight tablets, slimming milkshakes and gym passes that can help with that — if we’re happy to part with our cash.
We’re told that we need to be seen as successful and that there are ways that we can sell this image to others. Expensive holidays and clothing, fancy cars, new furniture, the list goes on and on. If you’re not ‘successful’ then there are paid coaches to help you get your life on track.
Even if they don’t care about fame, money or success, there are a lot of people who have families, and naturally they want to take care of them to the best of their ability. There is so much uncertainty and fear around how to raise a child ‘correctly’ that it’s natural for many parents to buy into the media telling them how to raise their child. The sheer amount of toys that are marketed at children to make them want something (often through a fear of missing out on the latest fad) then fuels the parents fears that they will be depriving them if they don’t buy it for them. The fact that Argos posts a list every year before Christmas to predict the ‘top toys’ to buy² just reinforces the idea that a multimillion pound corporation knows your kids better than you do. No mother or father wants their child to miss out, regardless of whether it’s a new toy, or something more pressing such as nutrition. Companies will hone in on a parent’s fear of this malnutrition and build their marketing for a product specifically around this idea. In 2014 a joint promotion between Nestlé and ASDA for SMA was found to be misleading, by suggesting that their specific fortified toddler milk gave nutrients and iron required for the diet that a child would not get otherwise³. This shows that not all information out there is trustworthy when looking to the media for guidance.
We’re not only sold products and services throughout our lives by being told that we need to be scared about not being good enough, young enough, or fit enough. In our current climate of financial uncertainty, many people have unfortunately essentially ‘sold their souls’ to employment just to get by. The fear of destitution is so high that some companies continually get away with mistreating their employees because the workers know that they, at least, have job security and are terrified to go elsewhere. A recent example of this is the massive workload expected of British Amazon employees⁴, some of whom have been hospitalized due to panic attacks as a direct result of the unrealistic targets set for them.
Ultimately, fear is something that can be targeted at everyone, even children from a young age. We live in a materialistic society and we are worried — terrified even — that we will miss out, look old, or be seen as uncool or unsuccessful. The assumption by many companies (an assumption we all too easily buy into) is that we are so lost that we constantly need guidance about what to do, buy, wear and be. Advertisements, newspapers, and all forms of consumable media are there to remind us to be very scared about not fitting in, and when we inevitably succumb to this, mass corporations are there to sweep us up with their deals and promotions to make everything better for a little while.
(1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6XIpMw56dY
(2) https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/argos-top-christmas-toys-2017-10659577
(3) http://www.babyfeedinglawgroup.org.uk/reports/wyeth151014
(4) https://observer.com/2018/04/amazon-britain-harsh-working-conditions/
