Dear FRONTLINE,

I love it. Everyone, including the cynics on this site, hates advertising. Lets face it, you either hate it or love it. Either way it is here. I have spent a great deal of time studying it. It is funny to know you are for the people and spend time trying to expose the tricks while madison ave. execs. spend time selling. It is a game neither side will win. Have fun and enjoy the ride. Sorry to be so pessimistic but smarter people are making the ads you want to counteract. For a better view of advertising check out R. Levine, the power of persuasion. S.

Stephen Reysen
Fresno, CA

Dear FRONTLINE,

Excellent show as always with Frontline. Working in the field of recycling and waste reduction I see the impact of our purchasing everday-too much stuff and too many resources wasted in making that stuff. It was interesting to see the producer try to ask the French consultant about this issue only to be told that the reptilian brain was in charge of everything so I guess unless the reptile is interested in the environment, then forget it.

The problem is the environment requires an interest in the common good, something that is rapidly being lost in our "me first" culture as pointed out in the show. So, I guess I'll go back to promoting the only way to reduce our impact on the environment, encourage the creation of fewer of us reptiles.

Bill Smith
Tacoma, WA

Dear FRONTLINE,

Does anybody remember Marshall McLuhan? his first book, "The Mechanicle Bride" 1951, says it all about the mass acceptance of the idea that we are all mechanisms, Stanford-Benet IQ tests,Taylor Time and Motion studies,and now real time brain mapping through MRI's,

continue to buy into this deterministic world veiw.

By learning about the history of these ideas and to stimulate thinking read "Medieval Technology and Social Change" by Lynn White. Yes, we need our emotions to motivate our intellect to THINK and through application of intellectual synthesis of our overlooked, and devalued "liberal education" (that dirty label) I believe we can avoid "manipulation" and remain the captain of our souls.

sean folsom
carmel valley, california

Dear FRONTLINE,

I find Rushkoff's and other's longing for a world void of mass advertising somewhat strange.

Never before in the history of the world have so many goods and services been available to so many people, and it is natural that advertising is necessary in order to provide these goods and services. Of course, there are ethical concerns about the precise nature of the ads but the ads themselves cannot just disappear unless one is willing to give up the goods and services.

Christian Kohlhaas
Austin, Texas

Dear FRONTLINE,

...One of the most interesting things apparent in the documentary (and in life in general) is that even in the pursuit of the souless maximization of profits, corporations and marketers are found having to touch the human spirit - promoting humanity in order to seek the profit objectives.

Perhaps the real thing to keep an eye on is whether or not human interactions are based on an appreciation, valuing and understanding of all things. Clearly, humans are prone to try to exploit one another, and perhaps the increasing global dominance of superficial messages of persuasion is a simple indication that our understood appreciation and valuing of things today is weaker than it can be. Collectively, perhaps we deserve what we get.

Reed Burkhart
Walnut Creek, CA

Dear FRONTLINE,

Tonight's program, The Persuaders, left me wishing we could hit some giant cultural re-boot button and start over. What would it be like to spend a week without a trace of advertising, to strip away the billboards, print media ads, all radio and tv advertising for a week? Remember how quiet it was on the days following 911 when all the airlines were grounded? I'd like to experience the same respite from advertising for a few days and see what emerges.

Mr. Glanzer made an excellent suggestion on this forum: that we teach young people about the manipulative techniques of the advertising business. Mr. Glanzer: How about designing a program and getting it in the schools? It's a great idea. The ad agencies are trying to change culture by targeting the youth. Perhaps showing young people how they are being manipulated would spark a cultural change for the better.

Elizabeth Votaw Loux
Eugene, OR

Dear FRONTLINE,

I'm a 22 year-old, graduating Communications major who's set his sights on world domination. Unfortunately, I've never had a clear plan of what to career options to pursue. Watching programs such as this and "Merchants of Cool" sets off a fire in me, an unsettled blaze of ambition that keeps me yapping to my friends and tossing and turning in bed all night. I'd like to thank you guys for airing pieces of fine journalism that have set my motor into overdrive.

Jerome Holeyman
Davis, CA

Dear FRONTLINE,

It's no surprise to me that we are such willing participants in the marketing phenomena illustrated in this program. After all, don't we all want our needs and wishes satisfied, even by someone outside ourselves? We all secretly desire that elusive something, and if we are unwilling to identify and pursue it consciously, we seek out others who promise that satisfaction we know we lack. It is fascinating, and horrifying, to think that there are people who are willing to understand, to tap into, and even to exploit that deep-seated desire each of us harbors. It's just so easy to go along for the ride. None of us is immune. A study in human complexity...and complacency. Thank you, Frontline, for offering this bittr and nourishing food for thought.

Valerie Wiley
Milpitas, CA

Dear FRONTLINE,

If you are concerned about the issues presented in this intriguing documentary then I have to strongly suggest a book that is a must read for all interested in this topic of advertising. It's called "Culture Jam." It does it own study on advertising and talk about groups that have begun a fight against it.

hobby horse
Santa Clarita, CA

Dear FRONTLINE,

If you are concerned about the issues presented in this intriguing documentary then I have to strongly suggest a book that is a must read for all interested in this topic of advertising.

It's called "Culture Jam." It does it own study on advertising and talk about groups that have begun a fight against it.

hobby horse
Santa Clarita, CA

Dear FRONTLINE,

I have always had the idea that the persuaders existed but now after watching tonight's program I am alarmed by how much access companies like, Acxiom, have to our personal lives.

I don't buy into brands and thier 30 seconds of waste but on the otherhand I am into politcs, especially since I'm in the military. It absolutley sickens me to know that politicians buy our information, for thier polital gain. Marketing a brand is one thing but to get America's private infomation for political

gain, just can't be legal and should not be used in elections. It is just another way to empty our wallets and destroy our earth.

Liz Robinson
San Diego, Ca

Dear FRONTLINE,

After recently graduating from an esteemed advertising school with an MFA in film I can say without hesitation that you hit the nail on the head. Your program touched on many of the concerns that I've had in my career as a filmmaker and the role I've played in this drama. My thesis included quite a few points that your program eloquently expressed and I was taken aback by the clarity and thorough nature of your film. I would suggest to anyone who is interested in becoming involved in advertising to watch this program as it covers what most will pay tens of thousands of dollars to learn at any number of ad schools. To be perfectly honest I'm a bit jealous that I didn't get there first. Excellent program and I hope to see more of the same.

Los Angeles, CA

Dear FRONTLINE,

My personal feeling is this is a unethical industry. Companies are profiting from my "intellectual property". The property of course is my person information. We live in an age of mass lawsuits all in the name of copyright infridgements and yet there's an entire industry harvesting my information and selling it for a profit, without my consent or royalties paid. It's shameful and I feel like suing these companies. I would probably win too.

Somewhere OutWest
sacramento, CA

Dear FRONTLINE,

The latest episode from Frontline "Persuaders," was missing a few conclusions and observations. Otherwise it was outstanding as always.

First of all, many of the products that have achieved a cult status did so by simply being an outstanding product. It's amazing how so many industry people forget this. The advertising campaign is effective only when the artistic vision captures the emotional essence and experience the product brings to a targeted consumer, and the product is good enough to back that promise up.

Second, the marketing guys have become cynical because they hire self-serving artists that create ineffective high-concept advertising. So in response they've thrown "art" completely out the window, and focus only on demographics in hopes of finding a "silver bullet." Many in the business over-analyze their marketing research looking for the exact answer, and miss the big picture entirely. Advertising is a science defined by art and emotion. There are no final answers, only very educated guesses.

Finally, I wasn't sure about the "happy ending." Perhaps in 50 years when global warming has kicked into high gear, and we become more community-oriented conservationists, the effects of advertising will fade. Or we'll just eventually accept the fact we're all demographics, and be pleased our advertising is catered directly to us, and less cluttered. Which will it be?

Michael Foster
Joliet, IL

Dear FRONTLINE,

This show is focused much too much on the 1990s, at the expense of the very important history that Thomas Frank has detailed in the Conquest of Cool which situates the transformation of American advertising and the popularization of counterculture in the 1960s. Indeed, one could argue that the psychological manipulations of mass advertising have origins that date back at least as far back as the 1920s.

To say that advertising was all about products before the 1990s, and is now about making broad cultural claims, really flattens out this history, and gives too much credit to the fads of the contemporary marketing industry as if they're entirely new.

Trevor Griffey
Seattle, WA