Frontline's The Persuaders airs Tuesday on most PBS stations and will be online later this week. The first hour focuses on consumer advertising and the last half hour on political persuasion. Douglass Rushkoff who also did the Merchants of Cool in 2001 along with producers Barak Goodman and Rachel Dretzin is the correspondent. I emailed him these questions.
Steve Rhodes: In the Frontline newsletter, they said one obstacle you faced was getting access. How were you and the producers able to convince the Song campaign, Dr. Clotaire Rapaille, Frank Luntz, and others to participate?
Douglas Rushkoff: Most of these people are peddling their own wares more passionately than they are the products of their clients. So most of them were more than happy to be filmed. Of course, this makes me think that we didn't get to the real players, on some level. Smart people don't open up their shops like this. The public relations story behind bread, for example, went dry when the Bakers Association decided (intelligently) not to let us continue behind the scenes.
SR: It would also be interesting to follow up after The Persuaders airs to see if you got any reaction from them about how they were portrayed.
DR: Well, most of them are pretty happy. I've spoken with three or four who have seen themselves, and had no problem with how they were portrayed. These people have well developed public images, and know that - on a certain level - they come off as clowns. Like those guys on Frontline. They want to be remembered; they have brand images.
SR: Although it isn't stated in your narration, it is clear from the shots of you working that you are a Mac user. Did this help you understand the concept of cult brands? Also, while Apple's marketing certainly had a role in creating that culture, the devotion to Macs seemed to happen more organically. Now it is something that is part of marketing stragtegies.
DR: Yeah - I researched cult brands with Douglas Atkin years ago; I wrote about it in my book, Coercion. I don't know that I'm in the mac cult, but I certainly do understand the phenomenon. I don't think it's so terrible, as long as people don't get so serious about it. Then again, I think religion is something people shouldn't get serious about, either. These are all social constructions, and can serve us in a certain way, as long as we remember they're not real.
Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
super job Steve, thanks!