I’m a convert.
Thunderbird
Asia Tsunami Disaster
When i opened the gate to get to work today, instead of just taking the paper in, i stopped and read the entire frontpage at the gate. It was shocking news. During all this time, i was nicely in bed and people in another part of the world are fighting for dear life.
I love the beach and the picture above was taken in July 2001 in Perth. It is nothing like the Beaches of the Asian countries we have been hearing about for the past few days. Its really sad. Do go to Yahoo! Asia – Tsunami Relief Appeal website to see how you can help.
Exploitive Marketing & Desire Creation
Marketing, according to Kotler and Armstong in Pinciples of Marketing, many business students who have learnt some marketing, might have used this as their textbook and it is foundational marketing knowledge. Kotler and Armstrong define Marketing as “A social and managerial process whereby individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others”. But the “want” and “value” creation process can be translated into many things.
Kotler and Armstong highlighted “…the pure marketing concept overlooks possible conflicts between consumer short-run wants and consumer long-run welfare.” They go on to use examples such marketing efforts by fast-food chains. Their foods in its real essence are high in fat and salt. They may not be very healthy, but they are definitely successful in selling their somewhat unhealthy food. So now many fast-food chains are charged with providing more information on their food, so that consumers can make a more informed decision if they want to eat those foods high in fat and salt, or choose to eat something else, or do more exercise to burn off those fat and salt.
Such concerns and conflicts led to issues such as “False wants and too much Materialism”, “Marketing Ethics” which are also covered in Kotler and Armstrongs book. Marketers have the power to create desires, wants, temptations, but are they ethical? They will definitely make profit, but do they can also cause problems for people who buy their products.
Children are the most innocent creatures that I can think of. Their knowledge of the world, their understanding of how things work can be very different what we assume. They are pure, they innocent, it is almost difficult for them to make an informed decision. Many products are marketed towards children, because of this, kids just want, want, want, possess, possess, possess, it is their carnal nature. This is the state of our world now. In extreme cases, we see many kids crying and squirming on the floor in toy departments, in a way they are somewhat saying “if my parents don’t buy it for me, they don’t love me”. As a parent, I know that feeling is terrible and I believe many parents feel the same. Teenagers feel the same way, but instead of squirming on the ground, they will do other more appropriate stuff of their age, I think I got the point across.
Kids are comfortable with things that they can relate to, when they recognize something, they feel a sense of familiarity, they feel confident and that would lead to good self-esteem. With a combination of aggressive marketing tactics, toy vendors have reaped great harvest from parents who don’t control the carnal desires of their kids. I’ve seen kids who insist their parents to buy them everything from their favorite cartoon character, the bags, the dolls, the figurines, the stationary, the works! My view is that this behavior when not controlled or worse still encouraged at a young age will lead to devastating problems in the future. Toys now, branded goods later, my way now, uncontrollable teenagers in the future.
Maybe I’m just paranoid; maybe I just love my daughter too much.
Alot of Anti-Barney stuff on thenet is quite childish, but there is some truth in Aimee Yermish essay on “Barney & Friends vs. Sesame Street: A Comparison”. Just take it as casual reading.
I’m anti-Barney just because Barney is very uncool, what about you?
Merry Christmas
False Gods and beliefs
Warning
Religious content, don’t read if you don’t want to.
For quite some time the economy has not been very good and as part of the management I came out with fresh new marketing ideas and attractive incentives for the sales team, but my boss is still not happy. So to improve business, he paid a feng shui master to come to have a look at the office and showroom. So apparently this third feng shui master contradicted the previous 2 feng shui master. Anyway, my boss took his to-improve-business advice by installing an altar and a buddha statue on top of our company’s logo in the showroom. Its not small, the base of the altar is about 1 meter. It did not stop there, he mentioned that after reading my face, his comment is that I am very superstitious and highlighted it to my boss! He is already so wrong, i’m anti-superstition!
So off they went to our warehouse and apparently something need to be installed under the entrance… Arrgghh… I can’t be bothered. I don’t believe in feng shui and I’m definitely against all this superstition! I’m so disappointed by my boss’s effort to-improve-business that I feel like quitting. Now with that religious object screaming in the faces of our customers who happen to be contemporary architects and interior designers, I just don’t want to know what they think. Even my sales staff joked and say that maybe we should install some Christian and some Muslim objects too, so that we have more gods helping us.
Now the feng shui thing is in our showroom for a few months now and the only regret i have is that I was afraid to create a scene by confronting it on the spot and not allowing it to be placed in our showroom.
I made myself a promise, should such feng shui things that camouflage themselves as good intentions come my way again, I will not let it happen again! Never! I will not allow my fear of confrontation or let feng shui or other gods be be installed for what ever reason as I do not believe that it works and do not wish to let people see and follow it blindly and be bounded by such oppressive beliefs and be robbed of the freedom that God wants to give us.
1 Corinthians 8 : 9 – 13
Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, won’t he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.1 Corinthians 10 : 23
“Everything is permissible”–but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”–but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.1 Corinthians 10 : 31 – 33
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God – even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.2 Corinthians 3 : 17
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.Galatians 5 : 1
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.Matthew 15:3
Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?”Matthew 15:13
…If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.
Now i’m constantly oppressed and trouled by this thing in my work place and other than the increase in monks coming in to ask for alms, i do not wish to be a contributor to such false beliefs.
Relatives have come to my place before and gave some feng shui comments before and adviced some subtle things to be palced in the house or how some things should be placed… IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN IN MY HOUSE! NEVER! I believe in God and rebuke such bondage and hope that people will come to realise the freedom they can have in God. I will not be afaird of confrontation again, because my fear of confrontation have cause me much torment in my work place and i do not wish to come home and be tormented again!
Its really sad to be bounded by false beliefs, traditions and superstitions, i hope everyone will come to know God and accept the freedom that he freely gives.