Don't... eat it...
In the early twentieth century several US retailers hired a man called Edward Bernays to advise them on how to boost sales in a post war economy.
Bernays (non other than Sigmund Freud’s nephew) taught them to link the purchase of goods to people’s ego needs: status, success, prosperity, sex…
Before this, people bought things for practical purposes only. You wouldn’t buy a pair of shoes unless the pair you had were completely worn out. And most people’s food habits had nothing to do with ours today. They had more to do with survival than entertainment.
Bernays helped turn this behavior around though. He taught sales staff to make people who bought the “right” brands of food feel successful, more prosperous, sexier and more worthy. And those who bought the “wrong” brands feel not good enough.
In today’s economy, advertisers use far more complex and subtle marketing techniques to make us buy the “right” foods, regardless of the health implications.
We are continually bombarded with subliminal and sometimes direct messages such as:
- Feeling down today? Drink this and you will feel great in no time!
- People who eat this food are more attractive…
- Only the most successful people buy this special product.
These messages are often accompanied by images and sounds that deeply anchor them in our subconscious. So, every time we see or hear the advert, or the product, an emotion is automatically triggered.
What do you feel when you hear the brand names:
- Yorky
- Ferrero Rocher
- Carte D’or
- Doritos
Every year millions of euro are invested in advertising so these messages become even more powerful. Everything, from the shape of the product, the packaging material’s flashy colours, the highly addictive ingredients… to the aisle and the shelf you find them on at the shop… everything is meticulously premeditated so you find them harder and harder to resist.
This is why fighting food cravings with will power alone is practically impossible. And this is why NLP is been proven so effective at getting to the heart of the matter, that is your subconscious, to help you bust those nasty cravings in record time.
If you have found this post helpful, feel free to post your comments or any questions you may have.
Thank you,
Anna
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