How do they do it? Their advertising campaign manages to convince millions of people that they want, even need a Coke. Their brand is so ubiquitous you know instantly what this is, even though you can only see two and a half letters. I watched a video about how poor people in third world countries find a way to buy them, carted around by bicycles on dirt roads. 

 

Rationally I know that Coke does nothing for my health, yet I can drive by a billboard, glance for approximately two thirds of a second at its captivating image, and start longing for one. Wait!! I do not like Coke! I have not had one in thirty years!

 

The other day I bought a quilt on ebay. It is pre-Civil War, and I paid a high price for it. I was nervous about whether I had made a mistake, when someone else told me, "You got a beauty." Really? My confidence rose. I felt a notch more confident and safer about loving it. Someone thinks it is a beauty, so by golly I do too. 

 

People can be swayed. I confess to a small campaign of my own. When the little kids I eat lunch with start unpacking their no crust sandwiches, or favorite juice box, I say, "Your mom loves you to make you such a great lunch!" I probably say it to at least two kids every day. I want to promote the idea that "My mom loves me!" Considering the fantastic quotes I have heard about how many ads the average kid hears or sees over a lifetime, I want them to hear a few selling them on the idea that they have a great mom. Which they do.

Photo by Chara Odhner

www.caringformarriage.org