Are you being sexually aroused by this picture?

Wilson Bryan Key took the concept of The Hidden Persuaders one step further and documented how advertising companies were using sex to sell their products. This was in the mid-70’s. Then, it was considered too provocative to be true. Now, we accept that such things go on, but we turn a blind eye to it, pretending that these things have no effect on us.

There is no doubt that we are constantly being manipulated by the media, but we think we can ignore the effects. Can we really?

The Manson Family

In August of 1969, Charles Manson and his ‘family’ murdered Sharon Tate and eight other people. Read this report. According to Manson, he felt that the Beatles were instructing him to do the deed, through their song ‘Helter Skelter’.

The song is actually about a ride that British children play on, the equivalent to a slide. So there was no ‘obvious’ message that someone like Manson could pick up on.

So the issue was there before Key pointed it out. The fact that Manson was considered ‘crazy’, doesn’t diminish the result. Nine people died.

The “Roof” of the Problem

Just yesterday, the judge of the Charleston shooting sentenced Dylann Roof to die for the deaths of black Bible students. A white supremacist, Roof said that he felt that he had to do it, and still feels like that to this day. Was he ‘programmed’? Again, nine people died.

Conclusion

We cannot close out eyes to this anymore. There is a lot of ‘talk’ about mental illness, but not much real action. If we think it will all just ‘go away’, think again: people are dying out there.