Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter
The Skeptical Consumer
When I was a little girl my mother stayed at home with us, but, as I have mentioned previously, before I was born she worked in advertising. Her past wasn’t just glamorous (is it wrong that I knew what a three-martini lunch was when I was in elementary school?), it was relevant because it made her an expert on the deceptive practices of advertisers.
If a cake looked good on a TV commercial she’d say, “They use wax to make it shiny, it wouldn’t really look that good.”
If a cleanser seemed effective: “They staged that.”
If a toy seemed great: “They light it so it looks better, in real life it would seem cheap.”
And we had to believe her, because she knew, because she had worked in advertising. Of course, every once in a while some poor soul (who didn’t know any better) would actually buy me one of those toys and darn if my mother wasn’t right: They were cheap and they did look better on television.
I am grateful that my mother sowed the seeds of the skeptical consumer in me early. I can’t say they really bore fruit until I was in my twenties, but since then it has been a bumper crop.
One of the things I really enjoy about my work is the people. Most of my clients are enthusiastic, receptive and openhearted. Of course it is their very enthusiasm and openness that makes them easy targets for advertisers. My clients say, “Cool, that looks great” or “Wow, I’m gonna try that!” While I am saying, “Meh, just a plot to separate me from my money” or “Vinegar would work just as well.”
As much as I hate to always be a naysayer, one of the strongest tools in your anticlutter arsenal is to develop a sense of skepticism. If you can develop willpower like a muscle, as Roy Baumeister and John Tierney posit in Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength, then I believe you can also develop skepticism. While this might sound like I’m the Grinch trying to crush the childlike glee out of my client’s hearts, I don’t see it that way. I see skepticism as empowering: Go ahead evil advertisers, throw your best at me. I see behind the curtain. I know your multigrain cereal is full of sugar, and moreover I suspect your cleanser is toxic.
Being skeptical doesn’t make you negative, it makes you smart. The word skeptic comes from the Greek: Skeptikos means inquirer. So educate yourself. Let the voice of doubt come in. Give your inner critic some room. At the very least you will become a more careful and conscious consumer, and how can that be bad?