Patterson Hall, Room 429, at scheduled time.
Please bring all work to the meeting (unless I have it already)
HOMEWORK: DUE April 3, 2007
1, READING Ch.10 pages, (170 - 204) In EAA, Ch.4 in TSIS
ALSO --for Documenting Sources (CITATION) there are good examples in EAC, pg 424- 442
2, Post your weekly blog entry and comment.
3, Comment on NY times article below. Answer the questions - a, What is the author's claim? Do you agreewith this claim? Use quotes to support your comment.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/opinion/25gilbert.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
March 25, 2007
Op-Ed Contributor
Compassionate Commercialism
By DANIEL GILBERT
Cambridge, Mass.
IN an advertising campaign that began last week, Nissan left 20,000 sets of keys in bars, stadiums, concert halls and other public venues. Each key ring has a tag that says: “If found, please do not return. My next generation Nissan Altima has Intelligent Key with push-button ignition, and I no longer need these.”
This campaign is clever, but not particularly original.
It was 1997, and the man who was crouched on the sidewalk at 68th and Broadway in New York City was one of the most pathetic souls I’d ever seen. His limbs were twisted in what appeared to be arthritic agony and tears were streaming down his face. “Please,” he whimpered. “Please, somebody help me.”
Most passers-by did what they were named for, but my wife and I stopped. The man looked up. “Please,” he sobbed. “I just want to go home.” My hand needed no guidance from my brain as it reached into my wallet and extracted $10. “Thank you,” he said as I handed him the money. “Thank you so much.” My wife and I mumbled some embarrassed words and walked on.
We hadn’t gone a block when she tugged my sleeve. “Maybe we should have gotten him into a cab,” she said. “He could barely stand up. He might need help. We should go back to see.” My wife is the patron saint of lost kittens and there is no arguing, so we went back to see. And what we saw was our horribly crippled friend walking briskly and happily up 68th Street, opening the door to a late-model car, getting in and driving away after what was apparently a short day of theatrical work.
I know two things now that I didn’t know then.
First, I now know that my hand did what human hands were designed to do. Research suggests that we are hard-wired with a strong and intuitive moral impulse — an urge to help others that is every bit as basic as the selfish urges that get all the press. Infants as young as 18 months will spontaneously comfort those who appear distressed and help those who are having difficulty retrieving or balancing objects. Chimpanzees will do the same, though not so reliably, which has led scientists to speculate about the precise point in our evolutionary history at which we became the “hypercooperative” species that out-nices the rest.
The second thing I know now that I didn’t know then is that this was the most damaging crime I had ever experienced. Like most residents of large cities, I’d been a victim before — of burglary once, of vandalism several times. But this was different. The burglars and vandals had taken advantage of my forgetfulness (“Why didn’t I double lock the door?”) and taught me to be better.
But the actor on 68th Street had taken advantage of my helpfulness and taught me to be worse. The hand that had automatically reached for my wallet had been slapped, and once slapped was twice shy. I’ve never again given money to a stranger without scrutinizing him for the signs that distinguish suffering from its imitation. And because I don’t know what those signs are, I typically just walk by.
Now corporate America has taken a lesson from the guild of shameless grifters. Nissan’s plan to leave those 20,000 sets of keys in public venues is every bit as crafty as the fraudulent performance that a decade ago left me with holes in both my pocketbook and soul. There is no selfish reason to bend down and pick up a key ring, but Nissan knows that we will bend without thinking because the impulse to help is bred into our marrow. Our best instinct will be awakened by a key ring and then punished by a commercial. Like rubes throughout the ages, we will be lured by a false cry of distress and quickly cured of our innocence and compassion.
We are used to commercial tricks that play on our fears. The official-looking letter marked “Verification Audit” is actually a magazine subscription renewal form; the credit card company’s ominous call to “discuss your account” is actually an attempt to sell new services.
Should we now get used to commercial tricks that play on our humanity? How would we feel about a device planted in trash bins that screams “I’m stuck!” until the lid is opened, at which point it continues, “Stuck in a dead end job, that is — and if you are too, then let us show you how to make millions in real estate with no money down”? Is it O.K. to send a thousand doleful puppies into the streets with tags that say: “Thanks for checking. And speaking of checking, our bank charges no monthly fees”?
What happens to us when greed masquerades as need, when cries for help become casting calls for chumps, when our most noble actions make us patsies? “You put an idea out there and seed it,” said the president of the advertising agency that came up with Nissan’s key ring ploy. “And people carry it for you.” Indeed they do. The idea being seeded and carried in this case is that the world cries wolf, that our moral impulse betrays us and that smart people should keep on walking.
Daniel Gilbert, a professor of psychology at Harvard, is the author of “Stumbling on Happiness.”
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11 comments:
I agree with the statements in this article. I, like many others, have been a victim of my helpfullness and kindness both on the streets and at my old high school.
A good example comes to my mind that is similar to Mr. Gilbert's experience: a few years ago when I was in Los Angeles with my parents, we came across one of the many homeless people on a street corner. My dad generously hands the hunch-backed man $5 and we walk across the street. As I looked back to the side of the street at the man, I see him stand up completely straight and take out a cell phone, talking on it.
What Nissan did was witty and I like the idea, but it caught me off-guard that the campaign's plan was to play off the natural human instinct to help others (in this case, to pick up what appears to be a "lost" set of keys and read what is attached to the keys in order to see whom they belong to).
I'm sure we have all been in the situation he is describing with the "bum." What Nissan is doing is a fun way of getting knowledge of their product out to the public. It doesn't really bother me that they try to play on our human side to do this, because you aren't left with a negative feeling. I assume most people would find the keys read what it says and drop the keys once they figured out what was going on.
While Daniel Gilbert's personal experience was disheartening, I don't believe his comparison is accurate. "The idea being seeded and carried in this case is that the world cries wolf, that our moral impulse betrays us and that smart people should keep on walking." While it is true that compassion will lead people to stop and pick up the key sets, the realization that it's only an advertisement will not leave a bitter taste in their mouths. Instead, I think it will lead to many laughs, in addition to being an excellent advertisement for Nissan. The "homeless bum" who takes your money and heads to the liquor store or hops into his luxury car has led to society's mistrust and bitterness, not Nissan. The analogy just seems a little far-fetched.
The nissan key idea was pretty clever, but I can see how it could be easily over done. Probably not to the point of letting puppies roam around with advertisments but the truth anti tobacco advertisments are pretty getting pretty close to trying to take advantage of human nature. Those commercials are more along the lines of curiosity then helping out one another but their both still realated to our instincts. I really don't care about ads so much though, I never say any of these nissan keys, and if I did i would have been more upset about not winning a free car than not getting the chance to help someone find their keys.
I believe that Daniel Gilbert is thinking a little too much about the way nissan is wanting to advertise their new Altima car. He kind of remind me of all the people that make a big deal about the littlest things. Nissan's idea of placing keys in various public places is great and unique. I think it is a positive and creative thing and should not be made into something negative.
I agree with this article. I think what Nissan is doing is a good idea. I've had experiences with people on the streets asking for money. You have to be careful sometimes. I think this ad is a great idea to test other peoples honesty.
I really liked Nissan’s advertisement tactic and I would have gotten a huge chuckle from it. I think there is nothing wrong with drawing from human instincts in order to gain an audience’s attention, even if it is from a beggar. The way I approach beggars is if he asks for money for food I just give him food. If the beggar insists he still wants money I walk away. Gilbert just doesn’t know how to handle the situation. We all know the stories of beggars taking advantage of people. When Gilbert states, “But the actor on 68th Street had taken advantage of my helpfulness and taught me to be worse” he is just admitting he has no self control. I was in New Orleans and it was rainy real hard and a beggar asked for money to buy an umbrella. I told him to wait there and I will go buy one for him because there was a Wal-Green at the corner. He didn’t say a word to me and walked away and went up to someone else and asked for money. Overall the article kept me interested but I was not persuaded.
Im sure almost everyone has encountered a "bum" at least once out on the street. Living in Memphis, i deal with them on a regular basis. It's always the same ole thing, "Hey bud, got any spare change so i can go get me a sandwich?" It is only natural, as the article says, to reach in ur pocket and hand them some money. I too have given money to a bum and actually watched where they went with my money. Ever since one of these bums used my money to go buy a 40 oz. of beer, i just ignore anyone asking for money. Once you experience something like this, your willingness to help someone diminishes Nissan's campaign is a clever one. It tests peoples willingness to help others. Most people would probably pick the keys up and then put them right back where they found them.
The authors claim is that across America many individuals are "crying wolf" to strangers to get a different point across than what others think is intended. The example the author uses is that strangers are resistant to lending a hand to what seems to be a helpless stranger.
Yes, I do agree with the author's claim. The author states that the man that once lent a hand to a stranger who looked like they were in desperate need had "never again given money to a stranger without scruntinizing him for the signs that distinguish suffering from its imitation." Many people try to help people in need out of the kindness of their hearts, but when tricked into something that person begins to have 2nd thoughts when brought upon a situation similar to the first. Same with car commercials, and phone deals, the producor tries to trick the customer into something where the producor really has the benefits, rather than the customer.
The article is so accurate with America today and if I hadn't have read something like that, it wouldn't have dawned on me the actual greed producers go through to sell their products. This reminds me of the advertisement analysis we had to do and how they roped in potential consumers with sly tricks or catching phrases. Things like this only make me wonder what else can be done? For one, advertisement will only get more advanced therefore it will be accessible more easily and readily available at all times. In movies about the future there are always projected advertisements on the sides of buses or buildings, and as fiction as the movie is, we ony wonder how long it will be before those ideas are put to the test. Before long advertising will be everywhere, places we can't even imagine now. We will have no choice but to live with it in our future society.
Even though Nissan advertising campaign uses our basics instincts to pick up the keys and return them to their owners, It wouldn't make me feel that I have been deceived and betrayed , and it wouldn't prevent me in the future to pickup another set of key and try to return it . I think the author exaggerated in comparing this campaign with the story about the pretender bagger how committed a fraud and stole his money.
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