❀ the cult of: ➥motivational speakers ➥life coaches ➥personal growth gurus ➥new-age charlatans ➥AWESOMENESS FEST

I think you two are agreeing

does anyone know anything about kundalini yoga

is it a cult is what I'm asking I guess, this may not be the thread for this

xxpost maybe. i am genuinely saying that while we can stroke our chins and note how something like this plays ever-so-subtle nostalgic chords on the hearts of folks who might just now happen to be in the market for a family sedan, it's entire content can be summarized as: if you happen to be in the market for a car this week, please please please don't overlook your VW dealer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R55e-uHQna0

Is this the most adorable commercial ever?

vishen creation newsun

roger r u fn srs dawg

dude if that is the entire content and it doesn't have appeals to nostalgia, parenthood, and a bunch of other shit then my film analysis skills are shit

do spectacular martial arts stunts with his body

even *if* the whole thing was 'if you happen to be in the market for a car this week, please please please don't overlook your VW dealer' - that's still fucking w/ peoples subconscious. you think people don't know VWs exist? you think that they're making a rational decision based on absolutely nothing but the consumer guide, but oh, they might forget that VWs exist, so it's good to remind them that VWs exist, cause they were gonna forget?

regretable thread drift, considering what choice morsels of wtf we are drifting away from and what overplowed ground we are drifting toward

be the change u want to see bra

I don't think it's actually that weird to compare how these people are fucked up to how we're all fucked up, like aren't we all part of a big cult called...america

context's different iatee. semi rational consumer getting actual product with money v. desperate/disturbed/lost person getting scammed trying to quantum leap to wealth.

lots of pretty rational people get scammed w/ quantum leap to wealth scams!

also old people

glad I finally get to see iatee posting about cars

the value of many of these actual products is just as dubious as quantum jumping

xxxpost sort of! if everyone else is out there saying "i exist!" and you go quiet, people very quickly forget that you exist. and then your tv spots look more like this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKL254Y_jtc

and yeah iatee dayo may be right here. like, very few (if any!) consumer decisions are wholly rational, so if by "subconscious" you mean "whether we know it or not we are more likely to select products we've heard of or seen advertised" then yes of course. just, if you mean this in some Hidden Persuaders way or like I'm going to buy Fancy Feast just because I see it advertised whether I have a cat or not, then no.

this is of course where the conversation turns around to why all of those mind movies look exactly the same. because while virtually all ads are innocent ("please just like me!") and the ones that aren't don't work nearly as well as they diabolical geniuses who came up with them would like to think, the net effect of all that chatter is absolutely pernicious. and we start mistaking other people's fantasies for our own, or mixing up basic desires for e.g. safety and security and love with astons and private jets and six pack abs and our own personal charity for grateful starving children and a multimillion dollar internet business and a pony.

george saunders' "brain dead megaphone" is pretty good on this iirc.

btw kundalini yoga is kooky but ultimately less culty than crossfit afaik

desire makes the world go round

ugh, finally got around to reading this thread, so sad and distressing

wait "please just like me" is like the exact opposite of innocent!

crossfit!!

also hi forks

thanks rog

i think it's really disingenuous to say that "please just like me" is blameless on its own, it's only when there's SO MUCH OF IT and it's SO CONFUSING that it's suddenly bad.

yeah, I can see the similarities iatee... probably something fundamental about a society built around consumerism. but there's a difference in bargaining power I think in these scenarios that makes the marketing here different and can sell a different type of product to a different type of person.

iPad is a cool, glitzy object ... totally useless in the grand scheme of things, but it at least adds a little value to your life, even just as an amusing distraction from the pain of existence.

compare this to Astral Breathing 4 $$$Million$$$ which will solve your problems with your bills, your wife, your kids, and finally let you live your dreams. anyone with an ounce of common sense would laugh at that shit, but if you're in a hard place in life or prone to deception, you're going to fork over cash for basically false promises.

solve your problems with your bills, your wife, your kids, and finally let you live your dreams.

iirc the ipad 3 will do this

but really, how far are these people from people who are gonna sleep outside the apple store for that ipad 3

no but the ipad is revolutionary why dont u see

this is a paper from 2009(?) that gives a little more background on Mindvalley and def makes them sound more like a six sigma thing:

http://www.slideshare.net/fedeeli/agileentrepreneurship

― ⚓ (gr8080), Friday, February 3, 2012 4:25 PM

So this is a really interesting document. Not six sigma, and not very good presentation/slide design, but a totally legit summary/synthesis of a lot of "current" management/entrepreneurship chatter. Says a lot about the "why," remains hilariously/admirably vague on the "what."

but really, how far are these people from people who are gonna sleep outside the apple store for that ipad 3

― iatee, Friday, February 3, 2012 8:31 PM (4 minutes ago)

hmmm... maybe difference is intent in getting a specific response. iPad 3 marketing is designed to make the average consumer want it. if people freak out about it and lose 4 days work to buy it, that could be their own personal idiosyncrasy. compare it to marketing designed specifically to take advantage of easily duped people by selling snake oil. now I'm getting into lolaw mode.

the thing with crossfit is a lot of people want to be in crazy awesome shape for whatever reason, and doing crossfit on the reg will do that. the basic exercises are pretty solid. it's less culty than ab machines on that count.

yeah snake oil is in the eye of the culture and you'll have a hard time making absolute value judgments one way or the other.

well, snake oil here is ... iPad 3 that works v. an iPad that's actually a cut-up pizza box spray painted silver. can't imagine any evidence coming out showing that the Silva Method really works.

i've wanted to try crossfit but the group thing scares me off. also $. i like intensity in exercise but the culture around it not so much. same with yoga tbh.

I thought crosscut was over and people do p90x now, or is it vice versa?

theyre both popular, v similar, crossfit is more community grassroots style px90 is all corporate and pro

ive never done crossfit but the people seem v supportive and not that bad

the only thing I know about crossfit is that one of my gf's grad school friends does it and she is in very good shape

yah it seems like a p good system for getting ripped

the idea of working out w/other ppl is weirder than quantum jumping to me

p90x is like the do-it-at-home call-this-900-number version of crossfit. it's a "program", crossfit is a "brand" with gym affiliates and certified trainers.

i maybe give px90 the slight edge cause they employ the incredible phrase muscle confusion

just to be clear itt crossfit gets culty about eatin' paleo and whatnot but is not actually a cult.

ive never done crossfit but the people seem v supportive and not that bad

― lag∞n, Friday, February 3, 2012 5:49 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yep this is what i've heard too

i did eat paleo for a while and it was p amazing

my old roommate tried to get me into paleo pretty reg. didn't seem that bad, just can't get into a diet with a name.

i wanted to say something about the language that advertising deploys and how its kinda a root language for all this mindvalley/mgmt theory/optimize yr lyfe stuff where content and tone get separated but now all its all i can do to go on and on abt my theories of how best to exercise

the idea of working out w/other ppl is weirder than quantum jumping to me

― RYVITA® (Lamp), Friday, February 3, 2012 5:52 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yes, this^ basically

it makes working out much easier is all