Dear FRONTLINE,

Canada teaches 4th children in the public school system how to deconstruct an ad or commercial or a tv show, so they will not be so easily manipulated. This may never be a part of the educational system in America, because the powers that be want people to be persuaded without giving much thought to what they are agreeing to. There is no time or space for reflection of ideas and concepts.

Thanks for the great work and all the information on the website.

East Lansing, MI

Dear FRONTLINE,

Thank you for a very insightful program. I found the segment about the 2004 presidential campaign very interesting and wanted to see more. Perhaps that can be a future show?

It's really amazing how they were able to market to potential voters on a personal level. I just wonder if this backfired on the Kerry campaign a little since they had trouble communicating their overall message to the general public. I also wonder if this has alienated us a little from one another as well and that's why the country ended up being so divided this election.

Karen I
NY, NY

Dear FRONTLINE,

Terrific show - one miss though was the kids angle and multi-generational and multi-product marketing that goes on. E.g. cartoon movies, toys and fast food - hook 'em young - hook 'em for life.

As a pre-Gen-Xer, I can still remember the days with minimal and simple ads and still feel I have a critical eye, but kids today don't know a day without sophisticated and integrated branded ad programs. They have to work really hard to see through the manipulation - most don't have a chance, they are persuaded like Lemmings.

Ken Randall
High Point, NC

Dear FRONTLINE,

Aside from the social and moral and ethical discussions that could be had - this program clearly illustrates the sophistication - and measures companies (and political groups) are willing to take to achieve their desired results or agenda.The sophistication of tools and methods is almost frightening....

What an enlightening program!

Bruce Cotton
Wilmington, NC

Dear FRONTLINE,

I came up on the creative side of the business and I'm here to tell you that the self-indulgent pap that snake oil salesmen like Spade foist upon advertsiers represents the worst kind of creative egotism this business has to offer. Sure, the "Emperor's New Clothes" approach wins awards (and a Googling of Andy Spade will reveal a pedigree rife with awards), but as fun as awards are to get, they just don't sell product. Far too many of the agencies that grace the pages of Communication Arts and take the stage at the One Show and Clio Awards each year lose the accounts for which they won the awards within 12 months.

Which is not to say that clever, creative advertsing can't be effective. Within Song's brand category, take a look at Southwest's work. Consistently great, funny and memorable. And strangely, they mention both product and price. Even stranger, Southwest is the most--and damned near last--profitable carrier in the industry.

Perhaps Tim Mapes and Song should have eschewed the advice of Andy Spade for that of Herb Kelleher. At least, then, the emperor wouldn't be naked.

Jason Smith
Carmel , IN

Dear FRONTLINE,

Thank you for reminding the enlightened but yet oh ever so small and sparse audience of PBS the inner workings of our "friends" the marketeers.

Now if could only Persuade more poeple to watch PBS instead of the mindnumbing reality-shows this country could be heading in a more conscious direction instead of it's REPtilian crawl.

Perhaps you should have changed the title from "The Persuders" to

"The Matrix - Election Year". Irony intended.

Javier Isassi
Livingston, NJ

Dear FRONTLINE,

While this episode did a fantastic job of highlighting the demise of the Madison Avenue giants, it did not effectively give way to the role strategic public relations is playing to fill that advertising void. However, Frontline did come close with the ideas and discussion with Frank Luntz.

Surely, the focus was on communication, and thats what sells products and services, but truly the only medium for doing so is creditability through the media, NOT advertising. Credibility builds sales, and advertising can only reinforce the brand once it is formed by consumers.

Tim Gort
Grand Rapids, MI

Dear FRONTLINE,

One interesting phenomenon in advertising that your show did not cover was the invention of what the industry refers to as "viral marketing". I was in Chicago when a new game company went around interviewing elementary school kids asking them to identify the coolest kid they knew. The marketers kept following the chain up until they found the 'coolest' kids in the school, those at the top of the admiration hierarchy. They then gave these kids free electronic games with a few extra to hand out to their best friends.

The idea was that by identifying these kids and then making them converts to the game through free access, others would in fact imitate their behavior, hoping to be like those they admire. (Thorstein Veblen's book The Theory of the Leisure Class published around the turn of the last century explains this phenomenon well.) From what I understand this tactic worked quite well with children. It is also an insidious use of invidious comparison (as Veblen calls it). Adults are equally susceptible to such manipulation that preys on their sense of inferiority and insecurity. Rather than trying to reach out to our better natures or educate us about alternatives, marketing of this kind seeks to strengthen the very forces that tend to disrupt society and lead to more severe mental distress. It would be interesting to look at practices like viral marketing and see if the rise of such marketing practices, along with the rise of the persuaders, can be correlated with increased psychological disorders in society as a whole.

Brunswick, me

Dear FRONTLINE,

Your segment was both fascinating and disturbing. No wonder some of the largest companies in America are in trouble. The segment on Song was a microcosm of what goes on in many of these companies today. Instead of thinking clearly and following what every B school teaches regarding differentiation vs. low cost production, these marketing "whizzes" spend too much time and stockholder money trying to develop a brand aura. I was half asleep- it was 3 am - and even a dumb non marketing CPA such as me could tell the effort for Song was going to be a disaster. Had they thought clearly about what drives the basic airline decision- cost, efficiency, and safety-they could have saved parent Delta millions of dollars.....come to think of it, I just did that. Instead they traveled to Vegas and other "business" destinations to continually miss the point. Find out what your customers want and give it to them- with quality and at a fair price.

Some of the great companies of the past had to find this out the hard way. Some survived- Apple, IBM, maybe Xerox and Kodak. Many didnt or couldnt. A real revelation for any budding entrepreneur as to what happens when you let the marketers take over your company and begin to brainstorm- common sense be damned,

thomas baird
toledo, oh

Dear FRONTLINE,

"Climate change" was indeed probably chosen to replace "global warming" because it is more benign. But don't you know that "global warming" was chosen by those who wanted to put their particular spin on the discussion? The global warming folks got there first and they chose that wordology because it was emotion laden and they wanted to reach the ilk of the emotional tree huggers. And that is neither bad nor good. It just makes sense.

charlie noble
orlando, FL

Dear FRONTLINE,

Wonderful documentary! I was struck by the Orwellian language tactics being used by the political campaigns- it seems that "Newspeak" has finally arrived, just 20 yrs later than Orwell predicted.

Let businesses do what they want- the invisible hand of the market will ensure that in the long run we get the amount and type of advertising we (or at least our reptilian brains) want. However, there is no self-correcting mechanism for the monopoly of government- we must demand truthfulness and transparency from our politicians. Democracy is a fragile thing, and lies and misrepresentations are the hallmarks of totalitarian regimes. . .

Tim Rogers
san diego, CA

Dear FRONTLINE,

Thank you. I am so interested in what makes the difference between influence and manipulation. Does it all depend on the degree to which I imagine that the outcome will be acceptible? Is advertising really just selling perceived social power? It is at the heart of this issue.

As it was stated the most successful pursuasion is when the target is compelled to pursuade themselves... seems to deal with the paradox of my need to feel accepted but also set-apart...

so in fact there is some inherent apeal to what a human needs/wants to hear, some agreement that all humans have soem similiar or at lease catagorizable in-born or reinforced desires. This is interesting.

david wheeler
mesa, AZ

Dear FRONTLINE,

It is an natural human impulse to apply meaning to the world around us, this inevitably trnslates into seeing meaning in the products we use, or buy. Whether we apply the meaning ourselves or its done for us by advertisers we are bound to see meaning in our choices.

The danger I see is when the natural meanings that we would naturally find in our everyday products and services gets highjacked and mutated into "designer meanings" which probably dont even exist, e.g. a "Song" day or a "Strbucks community" danish. These "designer meanings" leave us reaching for them, somtimes preoccupying us so intently taht we often cease to see any of the original, natural, true meaning which we are innately born to fulfill in the first place. These meanings come from being at one with our environment and thus give us a sense of safety and satisfaction.

Instead we turn this womb into a 360 degree advertisment for somwhere else, ineluctably leading to anxiety and neurosis because were already in the best possble place you can be.

Choices of meaning are dangerous because they rely on fantasies, and fantasies can nevewr fulfill what only real meaning can. The meaning that comes from utility and fuction for saftey and comfort. all ekse is evanescent quackery in my book.

The sooner we see this as a comunity the sooner companys will sell us products instead of dreams, and the sooner the demand for shrinks will plummet. oops!

Rene Gonzales
Los, Angeles

Dear FRONTLINE,

What a great exploration of the world of persuasive communication. Indeed all communication (including this show) will have a level of persuasion as all good thesis must.

I am in advertising management myself, and understand the challenge of marketing a highly intangible service. What really strikes me as the missing link to balance the necessity of informing consumers of new products and services is the growing empowerment of those consumers to provide their assessment of returned value on a massive scale. I wish this series had also included a look at the tools that are emerging for consumers to fight poor, inaccurate advertising and support messaging that actually reflects what a product or service delivers. The forum that I am typing in right now is a perfect example of a new tool that is allowing me to potentially tell thousands fellow viewers that I feel I got value for my viewing time.

Sam Roberts
Seatle, WA

Dear FRONTLINE,

Excellent program.

As sophisticated as marketing for sales and political issues was shown in the program I thought the marketing effort for Song airlines and was a glaring example of the marketing department drinking too much of their own cool-aide.

If half the consumers couldn't figure out what the company sells/does, the CEO should fire the marketing department.

Sean Bethune
Seattle, WA