I have a distinct memory from my childhood of hearing about the advert I have recreated for this post; somewhere in America – presumably on the approaches to Las Vegas – once stood a billboard showing all the glamour and riches on offer from a casino in the city that refers to itself as the entertainment capital of the world. Whereas gambling normally tempts with the slim chance of a big dream in exchange for your cash, this advert promised the reality of a guaranteed loss, but sweetened the pill with a promise of joy. Anyone planning a visit based on the advert would get exactly what they were sold, and everyone would be happy. I must have been around ten years old at the time, but I already knew that the house always wins and I remember recognising that this was my kind of advertising.
There’s always been a little artistry and sleight of hand in advertising; since I can remember it has always been the case that contractors quote net, charge gross and mutter “cash” when asked for clarification. If you don’t ask, they won’t tell, so it’s up to you to to find out. But now it is increasingly common for advertising and promotion to occupy a space where terms and conditions still apply, but often are made impossible to understand because the heady cocktail of artificially fast vocal pace and deleted pauses has exceeded terminal aural velocity. What was once fine print available for inspection has become an indecipherable blur whose only purpose is to offer legal cover by its very existence, as my parody below lampoons.
Music by @MakeSoundMusic (www.pixabay.com)
Of course it’s possible that with the passage of time I have begun to simultaneously view the past through soft filters while finding the present not as good as it used to be, and I’ll happily stand accused of that – but I can’t help but think the motivation to turn terms and conditions into a game of hide and seek is related to the spin that has shaped corporate internal communications over the last twenty five years, and which has now corrupted our politics.
