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Outrage - Marketing To What Lies Beneath
Ever wonder why people focus so much on outrageous behavior? Why they really glom onto anyone 
outraged enough to hold people and companies accountable for questionable and bad behavior?
I’ll tell you what I think it is that drives this. From what I’ve observed, there is a sublimated outrage out there running just below most people’s conscious awareness.
People are fed-up with those in power (political, corporate, wherever) taking advantage of them and abusing the trust they’ve been granted.
They’re seething about it and yet, because they don’t know how — they don’t do anything about it. And thus, the guilty companies and politicians are emboldened by that and blithely continue.
What you learn in Junior High Civics is still true today — “Silence gives consent.”
I think that’s one reason why people like Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly has struck such a vital, popular nerve - he is outraged when bad things happen and he leverages his bully pulpit to hold those responsible accountable for their actions and in-actions.
Face it, whatever your opinion of him is — he has done more to protect children than any other media person in recent memory. Perhaps ever. Before his unceasing reportage on the savage murder of little Jessica Lunsford by a known repeat sex offender, Jessica’s Law was only in a handful of states.
After 2 years of spotlighting activist judges giving convicted felons light sentences for irrevocably marring a child’s life and hold predators and the systems that support them accountable — Jessica’s Law is now in all but 9 states.
As I said in my 2,487 year decision post, “Not bad for one decision.” I wonder which ones you will make that will similarly, positively affect the country and the world?
He can also take a bow for spotlighting other issues that affect our social well-being, but I want to talk about the seething outrage the folk have, not O’Reilly’s accomplishments.
I know people are outraged at a number of things at any given time. Whenever I do an expose about companies taking advantage of their customers, my numbers spike across the boards — new visitors, new subscribers, unique visits. They stay on the blog reading longer and read more posts.
Every. Single. Time.
And each time I get a deluge of emails asking me to tackle yet another business taking advantage of its customers. And I’ve gotta tell you, many I don’t pursue because there’s just not not evidence to support the claims.
The folks have been taken advantage of and when someone holds bad people (and what else is a bad company comprised of, if not like-minded people?), they cheer because they viscerally share in that victory.
Why? I think it’s because those David and Goliath battles give us all hope that we can not only fight back — we can win when we do so.
By Walter |
Topics: Client Top Secret, Lessons Learned |
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