The title of this spot.com.mentary installment is that of a seminal book by Vance Packard. Released in 1957, The Hidden Persuaders contended that a significant percentage of advertising was insidiously manipulative, deploying consumer motivational research and other psychological techniques, including subliminal messaging. “Many of us are being influenced and manipulated, far more than we realize, in the patterns of our everyday lives,” wrote Packard who passed away in Dec. 1996. He compared motivational research to “the chilling world of George Orwell and his Big Brother.”
The Hidden Persuaders was on The New York Times bestseller list for a full year. It was both praised and criticized, the latter coming primarily from the ad industry which claimed that motivational research helped advertisers and marketers better serve the public at large. Ad biz leaders denied the use of subliminal communication in the peddling of products and services.
But Packard stuck to his guns, particularly concerned over how politicians were being promoted to the electorate through unscrupulous marketing and advertising.
Now more than 50 years later, Packard’s concerns have been fueled further by a new generation of hidden persuaders spawned by the 2010 Supreme Court ruling dubbed Citizens United. The high court decision cleared the way for companies, unions and other special interest groups to spend unlimited funds to try to influence elections, often using money from anonymous donors.
According to an Associated Press report, independent groups that did not disclose the identity of their donors spent $132.5 million to influence elections nationwide last year, accounting for about one-third of all spending by outside groups in the 2010 election cycle. Anonymous or unlimited corporate spending represented 15% of all federal political spending in 2010. Such spending amounted to some $85 million in Senate races, $40 million of which went to the 10 most expensive contests. Ads paid for by groups soliciting anonymous donors were more likely to be negative than those paid for by groups that disclosed donors.
Groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees took advantage of the new rules, spending tens of millions of dollars on campaign ads in races across the U.S. Other groups formed expressly to make use of the new rules spent big bucks as well.
However, heavy spending by groups under the Citizens United ruling did not ensure victory. In three of the most expensive Senate races, candidates won despite heavy Citizens United-spawned spending directed against them.
The Supreme Court decision was based on freedom of speech protection for corporations. I’m all for freedom of speech, as long as I know who’s speaking.
In mainstream advertising, the public knows who’s behind an ad and can judge those brands and their messages accordingly, with people making their buying decisions as they see fit. Even the most manipulative ads critiqued by Packard had a readily identifiable advertiser. Now what’s “hidden” in the political ad arena extends all the way to the sponsors themselves.
Utah Leaders and Locals Rally To Keep Sundance Film Festival In The State
With the 2025 Sundance Film Festival underway, Utah leaders, locals and longtime attendees are making a final push — one that could include paying millions of dollars — to keep the world-renowned film festival as its directors consider uprooting.
Thousands of festivalgoers affixed bright yellow stickers to their winter coats that read "Keep Sundance in Utah" in a last-ditch effort to convince festival leadership and state officials to keep it in Park City, its home of 41 years.
Gov. Spencer Cox said previously that Utah would not throw as much money at the festival as other states hoping to lure it away. Now his office is urging the Legislature to carve out $3 million for Sundance in the state budget, weeks before the independent film festival is expected to pick a home for the next decade.
It could retain a small presence in picturesque Park City and center itself in nearby Salt Lake City, or move to another finalist — Cincinnati, Ohio, or Boulder, Colorado — beginning in 2027.
"Sundance is Utah, and Utah is Sundance. You can't really separate those two," Cox said. "This is your home, and we desperately hope it will be your home forever."
Last year's festival generated about $132 million for the state of Utah, according to Sundance's 2024 economic impact report.
Festival Director Eugene Hernandez told reporters last week that they had not made a final decision. An announcement is expected this year by early spring.
Colorado is trying to further sweeten its offer. The state is considering legislation giving up to $34 million in tax incentives to film festivals like Sundance through 2036 — on top of the $1.5 million in funds already approved to lure the Utah festival to its neighboring... Read More