Plagued Consoomers / Consoomer Culture - Because if it has a recogniseable brand on it, I’d buy it!

[mr.moon1488]

Whoever, gave this thread the infected tag then thank fuck. So much talk of "Am I a consoomer? What is a consoomer?" is fucking grating especially the retards who keep asking if they are consoomers.

I know I'm a tad bit on the extreme end since I have a bit of a doll phobia, but this thing is nightmare fuel.

 

[atleast3letterslong]

I know I'm a tad bit on the extreme end since I have a bit of a doll phobia, but this thing is nightmare fuel.
View attachment 2096778

Shes so awoooooooga why they do that????????

 

[Kier]

One of the core tenets in advertising and public relations is to make people think their decisions and choices are their own. They want to subtle nudge you into believing something or buying something rather than try and convince you (because who the fuck is convinced by a 30-second commercial?) and they will do anything they can to do that, like, say, reshaping society itself. Modern advertising theory and techniques were in large part pioneered by the tobacco industry around 100-125 years ago (consumer goods IIRC was the other big one), and the entire point was to convince people to buy shit they didn't need and especially convince you to buy shit that was literally dangerous. Edward Bernays, founder of modern PR, was an expert at creating a lot of these tactics which are used not just by corporations but also governments. Definitely check into him if you want to know more about how this works and the theory behind it.

Disney has no doubt employed very intelligent people at their marketing and PR departments over the decades, and their strategy is incredibly well-crafted as you said. It's a brand as a religion, nostalgia commodified. You don't just see a Disney movie, you keep buying that movie and things related to it for your entire life.

I do wonder where the "brand as a religion" thing came from. It makes sense to think of selling a brand like that, since many religions have rituals involving newborn babies (infant baptism, circumcision, etc.) and at death that individual will be buried in a ceremony conducted in that religion (and they will often see clergy of their faith on their deathbed). Babies will be surrounded by the brand since the moment they are born since their bedrooms, clothes, etc. will be emblazoned with this brand. As they age, they will stick around with the brand and demand their parents help them consoom more. They can be married at a wedding themed after this brand, at a location significant to this brand. Their own children will be raised in this brand as well. When they are dying, they might watch a favorite movie one last time and they have the option to be buried in a branded casket (and yes, of course they have Disney funerals, here's the first link that came up).

The above is interchangeable for a lot of major products, and a few not major ones you see weird boomers obsessive about like Harley Davidson motorcycles or KISS. For instance, Nintendo has increasingly embraced this as well. It's genius marketing if you can position yourself like this, because there are people who will buy product after product for the hell of it, because you've convinced them it's a core element of who they are as a person.

You and Erika have expanded my reading list, good shit.

 

[The Lawgiver]

I know I'm a tad bit on the extreme end since I have a bit of a doll phobia, but this thing is nightmare fuel.
View attachment 2096778

It's got that uncanny valley vibe of a lot of "anime" stuff that doesn't get the whole translation of a 2d thing to a 3d space thing. The body is somewhat realistic in terms of propotions to a degree and the face is a simplistic anime one but without the subtle nuance required in terms of facial expression. Due to this it ends up turning out this fucking unholy nightmare effigy with a vibe similar to the "soy face" consoomers make in their photos, albeit not exactly the same. The face on this thing isn't as bad as some I've seen, that's for sure. Ever seen those nearly 1000 something dollar unlicensed anime masks people buy sometimes? A lot of those are absolute 100% uncanny valley nightmare fuel. I remember seeing a few people online that just had fuckloads of those things years ago and it gave a similarly unnerving vibe to funko pop walls.

 

[Dangerhair]

ETA: Is consoomerism by proxy a thing?

Some of my buddies are firefighters, and have told me it's a running joke how if a company decides to slap St. Florian's Cross (the "Maltese"/Firefighter Cross) on something, make it red, and claim one of the founders of whatever company is/was/is related to a firefighter, you can expect that product as a gift from a well-meaning relative next Christmas along with your Firehouse Subs gift card.

Novelty stuff like decals, heavy-handed "artwork" and Halligan bar shaped bottle openers are among the worst offenders.

 

[LinkinParkxNaruto[AMV]]

Read Robert Cialdini he is a pyschologist who has 2 books I have read "Influence" and "Pre-suasion", both books focusing on manipulating people. He released them to try and help consumers protect themselves from predatory sales tactics. Consumers generally ignored them and the books sold a fuck ton of copies in the marketing industry. Both books just contain a bunch of tactics people would use, like a salesman who got more sales by getting people to trust him by saying he forgot something and needed to get it from his car, so he asked for a key to the house and would be right back. He didn't need anything, he just went back and gave them the key and it made them more likely to buy from him, due to previous interactions iirc. Other shit was stuff like using association, framing questions to push how people respond, etc. I fully reccomend them because it's good for you to know how people/companies may try and manipulate you.

Also worth checking out is "The power of habit" by Charles Duhigg. More psychology stuff, not exactly about manipulation but there is a segment that will scare the shit out of you. A company entered some kind of an agreement with pregnant women, where the women allowed them to collect data based on their purchases. The idea was that pregnant women spend lots of money getting ready for their baby so if they could figure out who was pregnant they had a cash cow. Eventually the company was able to identify if a woman was pregnant, even what trimester she was in, entirely based on her spending habits. They used it to personalize advertisements to what women would want/need at the time. There was even a story where a father came in and complained they advertised baby products to his teenage daughter, he later apologised as it turned out the girl was sleeping with her BF and he had no idea.

Now imagine what Amazon and Google can do.

I would add to the reading list : "The Attention Merchants" and "Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator"

Both are very blackpilling. The first one is like an history of advertising and tactics used to farm attention and mislead people. The second is mostly about astroturfing and underhabded tactics brands will use to push their shit in the media.

You're only hope of getting customer support in any of these free games is to be a streamer or go on reddit/twitter and get attention, if you try to use the customer support on their website you will get an automated email and no response for over a month. Absolutely not worth the money.

The same treatment e-thots give to their paypigs if they get uppity. They know there always be more coming

 

[Toolbox]

Why would you put a fictional character on your childrens grave?

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-kent-49085597

Apparently their kid loved spiderman, and that's the only reason. Disney cease and desisted or something.

 

[h0387]

You're confusing autists with consumers, on a ven diagram the two categories probably have a lot of overlap but not 1:1 overlap.

This reminds me of a small group of VHS collectors (probably better described as hoarders) on YouTube that I came across one time, comprised exclusively of autistic (in the medical, not pejorative sense) young men who will take seemingly anything on VHS, and sometimes other formats. This is as opposed to your typical VHS collector, who is usually just a condescending hipster who likes shitty horror movies.

A lot of times they go out of their way for childrens' media but otherwise there is little discernment in their purchases. They often take special notice of things like print dates and the ads at the beginning that everyone skips.

Spoiler: Long

 

[RussianParasite]

No one cares if you have 1-2 Funko Pops

Yes, exactly this. No one “cares” in the sense that it doesn’t bother them at all, but you still deserve to be mocked for buying children’s toys as an adult. You might as well buy barbies and my little pony action figures, there is literally no difference.

 

[Fictional Character]

Yes, exactly this. No one “cares” in the sense that it doesn’t bother them at all, but you still deserve to be mocked for buying children’s toys as an adult. You might as well buy barbies and my little pony action figures, there is literally no difference.

Are Funkopops even toys? Can you, in any meaningful sense of the word, 'play' with them?

 

[Kosher Snake]

I know I'm a tad bit on the extreme end since I have a bit of a doll phobia, but this thing is nightmare fuel.
View attachment 2096778

anime in real life equals uncanny valley

 

[Jeff_the_Thriller]

archive everything. In all legitimacy, it's impressive how people managed to get this audio in such good quality.

This is absolute proof that western civilization is on the decline. Why would this be recorded and who would want to hear it? I can imagine employees hanging themselves because they have to deal with that main street usa music and shithead tourists 14 hours a day, 6 days a week. That is the type of music you would play on loop if you were torturing someone and needed a lunch break.

 

[Nazz]

yo dude check out the drip on darth

for real you know that some consoomer that larps as a rich person would want this

 

[Dangerhair]

Black Rifle Coffee, the Official Covfefe Of MAGAts, is definitely some high-tier consoomer shit. Their marketing is pretty much virtue signalling in reverse, complete with cloutchasing and pandering to veterans instead of trannies- purely performative anti-wokeness instead of performative wokeness.

3edgy5u, our products are all SCARY BLACK GUN NAMEZ!!

The founder is a dudebro with soyface:

and it makes you wonder- if you're that devoted to OWNING THE LIBS, why not just buy an actual MAGA hat, Kekistan flag or Pepe tat?

ETA: Why? Because they have tons and tons of non-coffee merch for the faithful! This exists so security guards can tell their employers "nuh uh, it's not a political statement, I'm just supporting my favorite coffee company!"

 

[DamnWolves!]

Maybe fits better in a "bugmen" thread, but I sometimes watch this guy that makes these cute little Nintendo animations:

Spoiler: Christian Kirbo

They're short and the guy who makes them made Kirby into an evangelical Christian, which brings untold amounts of salt from the atheist bugmen in the comments. Anyway, this isn't the guy I wanted to showcase, but it is important for the story. Occasionally, he'll make these "Pokemon battle royale" animations and they're always paired with an "explanation video" from this noodle-armed man-child.

I normally don't give a shit, but it started autoplaying as I was folding laundry and it all just comes together for me in a flurry of soy-soaked sadness. We have a grown man--probably approaching 30, if not already on the other side of it--who can barely grow a beard talking about Pokemon and their abilities, not only from the games, but "from the manga, the anime, the movies and the trading card game". A quick review shows that this is all his channel is:

Spoiler: Channel Overview

To qualify it for this thread, he also buys worthless pokemon shit from China:

Spoiler: Worthless Bullshit

I guess he makes some decent money off this shit and compared to many in this thread, it's not that bad, but it just rubbed me the wrong way. God forbid we ever end up in another war.

"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me." - 1 Corinthians 13:11

Spoiler: Battle Royale Animation

Spoiler: "Explanation" Video

 

[Crunchy Leaf]

Are Funkopops even toys? Can you, in any meaningful sense of the word, 'play' with them?

Sure you can, if you’re a child who takes them out of the box. No different from the Batman or Transformers toys you had as a kid.

 

[Gar For Archer]

Sure you can, if you’re a child who takes them out of the box. No different from the Batman or Transformers toys you had as a kid.

They’re not meant for that, though. They don’t have any joints, I don’t even think their heads can rotate.

I guess you could argue than they can be a toy in the same way that anything can be a toy if a kid is bored enough, but they’re clearly marketed toward adult collectors and are intended to sit on a shelf or a desk, not to be played with by children.

 

[Marshal Mannerheim]

if you’re a child who takes them out of the box.

They aren't being marketed to children, though. They're for adults who want to imagine they're children.

 

[The Curmudgeon]

Read Robert Cialdini he is a pyschologist who has 2 books I have read "Influence" and "Pre-suasion", both books focusing on manipulating people. He released them to try and help consumers protect themselves from predatory sales tactics. Consumers generally ignored them and the books sold a fuck ton of copies in the marketing industry. Both books just contain a bunch of tactics people would use, like a salesman who got more sales by getting people to trust him by saying he forgot something and needed to get it from his car, so he asked for a key to the house and would be right back. He didn't need anything, he just went back and gave them the key and it made them more likely to buy from him, due to previous interactions iirc. Other shit was stuff like using association, framing questions to push how people respond, etc. I fully reccomend them because it's good for you to know how people/companies may try and manipulate you.

Also worth checking out is "The power of habit" by Charles Duhigg. More psychology stuff, not exactly about manipulation but there is a segment that will scare the shit out of you. A company entered some kind of an agreement with pregnant women, where the women allowed them to collect data based on their purchases. The idea was that pregnant women spend lots of money getting ready for their baby so if they could figure out who was pregnant they had a cash cow. Eventually the company was able to identify if a woman was pregnant, even what trimester she was in, entirely based on her spending habits. They used it to personalize advertisements to what women would want/need at the time. There was even a story where a father came in and complained they advertised baby products to his teenage daughter, he later apologised as it turned out the girl was sleeping with her BF and he had no idea.

Now imagine what Amazon and Google can do.

Thank you for sharing that! I'm going to check those books out. This is one of those "scratch below the surface" type of subjects where you learn that something seemingly harmless like buying stupid vinyl figurines actually has a more insiduous and complicated reality underneath it.

 

[Toolbox]

This reminds me of a small group of VHS collectors (probably better described as hoarders) on YouTube that I came across one time, comprised exclusively of autistic (in the medical, not pejorative sense) young men who will take seemingly anything on VHS, and sometimes other formats. This is as opposed to your typical VHS collector, who is usually just a condescending hipster who likes shitty horror movies.

A lot of times they go out of their way for childrens' media but otherwise there is little discernment in their purchases. They often take special notice of things like print dates and the ads at the beginning that everyone skips.

Spoiler: Long

The way the guy in the first video is treating these tapes seems like it'd make other collectors have a seizure.