Trick or Treat - a survival guide to health care
26 Flattery dulls the intellect The Fox and the Crow: A fox noticed a crow sitting on a tree holding a piece of
cheese in her beak. The fox thought of a plan to get the cheese. He praised the crow's beauty in great detail and flattered her. He told her, "If only your voice is as
noteworthy as your looks, you will be the queen of birds.” The crow wanted to show the fox that her voice was sweet and opened her beak to caw. The cheese fell
down. The fox snatched it and told the crow, "You have some voice. What you need
is some brain." Comments
Advertising is the Fox of today. Advertising aims at the heart to cultivate positive
feelings and tries to bypass critical cerebral faculties like logic, scepticism and judgement.
Humourist Stephen Leacock has said, "Advertising is the art of arresting human intelligence long enough to make money out of it."
Does advertising really work? Frank Simoes, an advertising professional, considers it
an asinine question. He has quoted the example of a highly successful Indian campaign of the 70's to promote a bust developer. It was a metal and spring device that needed
strenuous effort, high pain tolerance and intense will power to make its wonders work. But the advertisements showing Before (pity!) and After (oomph!) pictures of female busts worked like magic. Thousands of women from all over India rushed mail orders. It was a
resounding testament to the triumph of hope over reason (Simoes F, 1993). The silent
sufferers ensured that the truth of the matter remained unknown for long (see ‘The Silent Sufferer’ in Chapter 9).
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