All they really need is to get the logo into your dream somewhere. That way, when you're at the grocery store the next day and you get this weird sense of deja vu as you walk past the Pepsi aisle, you stop and consider it. You don't have to buy it - before now you weren't even thinking about it. You didn't have a decision to make, and now you do. That's their first victory.
So now each time you pass the Pepsi aisle, you're more likely to go through this same thought process: huh, I wonder if that Pepsi stuff is actually any good, should I buy a Pepsi?
When faced with this decision hundreds of times a year in grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants and so on, they're eventually going to catch you on a day when you need the caffeine or you're feeling thirsty or you're just really craving some syrup water. Once you've bought the damn Pepsi, you are significantly more likely to buy more of the damn Pepsi. Not everyone has to become a Pepsi consumer as long as the brand takes up space in the public subconscious.
Also, the reason I used Pepsi as an example? That Suicidal Tendencies song. I didn't realize it until the end of the post, but the entire time there was a voice in the back of my mind screaming "All I wanted was a Pepsi! Just one Pepsi, and she wouldn't give it to me!"
So I guess that sort of proves my point. I don't drink Pepsi, but count how many times I've typed the name this morning. And now I've done it to you, too. When you go to the store next, some part of you will remember this conversation. Sorry about that, comrades... Drink water, stay hydrated.
lucky for me I don't dream in enough detail for this to be possible. everything looks like it's solid and there but if I stop and look closely, I can't actually tell what's written on signs or resolve the texture of grass.
I'm too ADHD to ever figure out what any given sign is supposed to be in a dream. when I try, the dream gets stuck in a never ending hallway as my brain tries to figure out something adequate. most of my dreams get stuck in never-ending hallways of one kind or another, until I wake up a bit and go back to sleep into a new dream, forgetting whatever detail was bugging me in the first place. needless to say, lucid dreaming was both easier and harder than you'd think to learn - it's easy to tell I'm dreaming and to try to exert some control but it's virtually impossible for me to do anything interesting with that control cause as soon as I do I get stuck in a loop.
I'd extremely like to dream like the rest of the planet sometime, it sounds like so much fun.
it's a coverage thing - they've already gotten advertising onto every surface while you're awake so the time you're asleep is the only undisturbed opportunity left.
It's less coverage when it makes up the majority of your ad spend, but it can also serve to reinforce the ads we view in waking life. If the goal is to constantly be putting their message in front of you, sleep is 6-8 hours of wasted time from a marketing perspective. If the ad is even slightly effective, it will be worth the money to some business out there. And it doesn't have to work on everyone - just enough people to justify the costs.
I also don't think that it the priming videos necessarily compete with traditional advertisements for views. I'd bet money that they plan to use social media influencers to push these videos. You'll go on TikTok and after you scroll past the eighth video of a guy doing the trippy walk you'll see some psychedelic imagery that catches your eye. You won't necessarily recognize it as an ad at first, and that's a benefit on a platform where you can skip an advertisement with the swipe of your finger.
You do figure it out - pretty quickly, I might add - but you still spent the time deciphering it, and great, it's that fucking Pepsi again. The same that Pepsi you saw the pretty ladies drinking in the Super Bowl ads on Sunday. The same Pepsi that you got the BOGO coupon for in the mail last week, arriving just in time for the big game and the launch of their viral video. Late night TV guys, desperate for internet content as their relevance continues to drop, will pick up the story and show the video on their weekly roundups. Your mom will send it to you on FaceBook and say "isn't this cute?" I realize this already happens with traditional ads, but it's a lot easier to get someone to share an ad if the viewer doesn't feel like they're being asked to do anything. The more nonsensical and absurdist it is, the more likely it is to get legitimate shares beyond the paid influencers.
Anyway, you get to the store and find that crumpled coupon in your pocket when you pull out your shopping list. You did intend to buy some softdrinks for the kids... Why not buy a couple 12 packs? You've always been a Coke guy, but a BOGO deal is a BOGO deal. And now that you've done it once, you are far more likely to do it again.
I could be totally wrong and I'm not trying to be a debatelord either, but as someone who works in marketing, I have met many people who would pay for a service like this. Executives are mostly dumb as fuck and they rely on outside consultants trying to upsell them to make these decisions. However, even if they fail, the fact that the capitalist class is actively looking for ways to infiltrate our dreams ought to be viewed as an alarming escalation.
Edit: Holy shit, sorry I made this so long... I'm avoiding a lot of work this morning.
oh for sure, I'm just describing why they're trying to do this - like I think they'd take the problem you're describing as a plus because it's also likely to get in the way of other advertisers. if other advertisers are less effective and you find a way to hurt yourself least, then it's a win because zero-sum Hobbsian arms race that you have to win or your competitors eventually overwhelm you with their own advertising. which is to say, I don't think this is necessarily even meant to work as described.
but that still means they're trying to infest our minds with shit that manipulates our dreams. effective or not, it still sucks. it's going to drive further alienation, probably have serious mental health consequences at a population level, and generally be hazardous to the health of all of us. in a word, hellworld.
All they really need is to get the logo into your dream somewhere. That way, when you're at the grocery store the next day and you get this weird sense of deja vu as you walk past the Pepsi aisle, you stop and consider it. You don't have to buy it - before now you weren't even thinking about it. You didn't have a decision to make, and now you do. That's their first victory.
So now each time you pass the Pepsi aisle, you're more likely to go through this same thought process: huh, I wonder if that Pepsi stuff is actually any good, should I buy a Pepsi?
When faced with this decision hundreds of times a year in grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants and so on, they're eventually going to catch you on a day when you need the caffeine or you're feeling thirsty or you're just really craving some syrup water. Once you've bought the damn Pepsi, you are significantly more likely to buy more of the damn Pepsi. Not everyone has to become a Pepsi consumer as long as the brand takes up space in the public subconscious.
Also, the reason I used Pepsi as an example? That Suicidal Tendencies song. I didn't realize it until the end of the post, but the entire time there was a voice in the back of my mind screaming "All I wanted was a Pepsi! Just one Pepsi, and she wouldn't give it to me!"
So I guess that sort of proves my point. I don't drink Pepsi, but count how many times I've typed the name this morning. And now I've done it to you, too. When you go to the store next, some part of you will remember this conversation. Sorry about that, comrades... Drink water, stay hydrated.
:baby-yoda-tea: So glad I'm a Mountain Dew Zero drinker.
*looks at distribution label* OH GOD OH FUCK
lucky for me I don't dream in enough detail for this to be possible. everything looks like it's solid and there but if I stop and look closely, I can't actually tell what's written on signs or resolve the texture of grass.
god this shit is dystopian.
deleted by creator
I'm too ADHD to ever figure out what any given sign is supposed to be in a dream. when I try, the dream gets stuck in a never ending hallway as my brain tries to figure out something adequate. most of my dreams get stuck in never-ending hallways of one kind or another, until I wake up a bit and go back to sleep into a new dream, forgetting whatever detail was bugging me in the first place. needless to say, lucid dreaming was both easier and harder than you'd think to learn - it's easy to tell I'm dreaming and to try to exert some control but it's virtually impossible for me to do anything interesting with that control cause as soon as I do I get stuck in a loop.
I'd extremely like to dream like the rest of the planet sometime, it sounds like so much fun.
deleted by creator
it's a coverage thing - they've already gotten advertising onto every surface while you're awake so the time you're asleep is the only undisturbed opportunity left.
deleted by creator
It's less coverage when it makes up the majority of your ad spend, but it can also serve to reinforce the ads we view in waking life. If the goal is to constantly be putting their message in front of you, sleep is 6-8 hours of wasted time from a marketing perspective. If the ad is even slightly effective, it will be worth the money to some business out there. And it doesn't have to work on everyone - just enough people to justify the costs.
I also don't think that it the priming videos necessarily compete with traditional advertisements for views. I'd bet money that they plan to use social media influencers to push these videos. You'll go on TikTok and after you scroll past the eighth video of a guy doing the trippy walk you'll see some psychedelic imagery that catches your eye. You won't necessarily recognize it as an ad at first, and that's a benefit on a platform where you can skip an advertisement with the swipe of your finger.
You do figure it out - pretty quickly, I might add - but you still spent the time deciphering it, and great, it's that fucking Pepsi again. The same that Pepsi you saw the pretty ladies drinking in the Super Bowl ads on Sunday. The same Pepsi that you got the BOGO coupon for in the mail last week, arriving just in time for the big game and the launch of their viral video. Late night TV guys, desperate for internet content as their relevance continues to drop, will pick up the story and show the video on their weekly roundups. Your mom will send it to you on FaceBook and say "isn't this cute?" I realize this already happens with traditional ads, but it's a lot easier to get someone to share an ad if the viewer doesn't feel like they're being asked to do anything. The more nonsensical and absurdist it is, the more likely it is to get legitimate shares beyond the paid influencers.
Anyway, you get to the store and find that crumpled coupon in your pocket when you pull out your shopping list. You did intend to buy some softdrinks for the kids... Why not buy a couple 12 packs? You've always been a Coke guy, but a BOGO deal is a BOGO deal. And now that you've done it once, you are far more likely to do it again.
I could be totally wrong and I'm not trying to be a debatelord either, but as someone who works in marketing, I have met many people who would pay for a service like this. Executives are mostly dumb as fuck and they rely on outside consultants trying to upsell them to make these decisions. However, even if they fail, the fact that the capitalist class is actively looking for ways to infiltrate our dreams ought to be viewed as an alarming escalation.
Edit: Holy shit, sorry I made this so long... I'm avoiding a lot of work this morning.
oh for sure, I'm just describing why they're trying to do this - like I think they'd take the problem you're describing as a plus because it's also likely to get in the way of other advertisers. if other advertisers are less effective and you find a way to hurt yourself least, then it's a win because zero-sum Hobbsian arms race that you have to win or your competitors eventually overwhelm you with their own advertising. which is to say, I don't think this is necessarily even meant to work as described.
but that still means they're trying to infest our minds with shit that manipulates our dreams. effective or not, it still sucks. it's going to drive further alienation, probably have serious mental health consequences at a population level, and generally be hazardous to the health of all of us. in a word, hellworld.