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advertising, diamonds, ego, gift choices, God, Love, manipulation, motivation, propaganda, spirituality
“When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure,” by Peter Marshall.
I looked out today and the snow sparkled like diamonds. And there was diamond dust in the air. Which made me think of other quotes, “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend,” from the movie/play Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Which made me think about my post yesterday where I wrote that my whole life is based on a play/movie. And each day I have to make a choice which director I would choose: God or the Ego?
It amazes me that so many people including myself make choices based on what other people tell us, instead of what we instinctively feel. I watched a pseudo-experiment on TV once where women in a mall where asked to choose between two diamonds — which was the more beautiful? Although not a scientific study — the women chose what turned out to be the cubic zirconia (man-made diamond) over the real diamond. Once the women were told how many more thousands of dollars the diamond cost, and were asked which one they picked now, they picked the diamond.
The interesting part of this paragraph was that I almost said how much the diamond was worth not how much it cost. If you are a moment from starving to death which would you place the higher value: an apple or a diamond?
I gave my wedding and engagement rings to my son to do as he wanted. He sold them. Well he sold the gold. He was told the diamonds weren’t worth anything. I’m sure this wasn’t what his father was told when he handed over the cash to buy the engagement ring at the jewelry store. The necklace in this photo probably also has no market value. However, it is priceless to me. Not as a diamond but as a memory. This is the diamond from the engagement ring that my dad picked out for my mom. When I married, my mom and (step) dad had it made into a necklace for me. To me, it represents the union of my fathers in heaven and earth.
In another “experiment”, women were shown pictures of men and told to rate them from 1 to 10 on appearance. These same photos were then given to women to rate BUT this time each man had a bio with the photo. The low scoring men on the appearance scale were given high-profile jobs, big bank accounts, and lots of expensive material possessions. Do you want to guess what happened to their appearance scores with the new bios? Yup. The scores went up. And conversely, the same happened when the opposite was done with the attractive men. Their scores went down.
This post really got started when I looked at a slideshow about what a man’s present for Valentine’s Day really means. Which led me as a former earth science teacher to get all riled up about the inaccurate facts about diamonds. Diamonds are the hardest known mineral at a 10 on the Moh’s Hardness Scale. But they are not rare as gemstones go. In the 1930’s around 10 percent of engagement rings were diamonds and they cost on average 1 months salary. In 1947, the DeBeers’ Company came out with the slogan “A Diamond is Forever” and controlled the amount of diamonds released into the market. This marketing ploy worked. In the 1990’s, 80 percent of engagement rings were diamonds and 2 months salary was being spent on the diamonds.
Today’s Intention: No matter the packaging, the propaganda, the personality — I choose to see each person today as a light way more beautiful and precious than any diamond.
Have you (like me) been taken in by appearances or advertising? What’s your perfect present? Are all deserving of your love?
Life in the City with a Future 
I hate to say it but I’m probably taken in by a lot of propaganda and advertising spin. Marketing is big business because it works. Who wouldn’t choose a paint colour called “dawn rose” over one called “pink”? Well, maybe that’s a bad example but you know what I mean, don’t you? I’m very swayed by words, styling and images. Even though I don’t like being manipulated I often want to know what other peoples’ opinion is about something. I try to be smart about who’s opinion I trust and I try to be a skeptical consumer, but I’m probably just as gullible as the next person.
I think the difference as I’ve gotten older is that I still ask for people’s opinions but now I more want to know WHY is that your opinion? If I hear “Well my husband says or Famous Person So-and-So says” I’m not as likely to choose that opinion. If someone tells me that they got chills as I was asking the question and they gave their opinion, I’m more likely to take notice. I totally get what you mean about the dawn rose. But then this is all my opinion so did I sway you with my fancy words? 😀
You’ve got me hook, line and sinker, every time. 😉
Reblogged this on sondasmcschatter and commented:
QUOTE “Have you (like me) been taken in by appearances or advertising? What’s your perfect present? Are all deserving of your love?”
THIS MORNING– I HAD LOTS OF E-MAILS– ON ADVERTISING OF BUYING GIFTS FOR VALENTINES DAY— GARY & I USUALLY DON’T EXCHANGE MANY GIFTS ANY MORE & HAVE NOT FOR MANY YEARS– WHEN WE SEE SOMETHING WE NEED– OR LIKE OR WANT– WE BUY IT– IF IT IS WITH IN OUR MEANS–BUT — I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THE ONE TO REASON EVERYTHING OUT– & IF WE DON’T NEED THINGS — WHY BUY THEM– WE HAVE A HOUSE FULL OF “STUFF”– & MUCH OF IT WE DON’T NEED— WE ARE TO THE AGE WHERE “STUFF” DOESN’T MEAN A LOT– NOW OUR GIFT MIGHT BE HEIRLOOM GARDEN SEEDS– OR DOGS TOYS– ETC- ETC– 🙂 WE TRY TO FIX SOMETHING SPECIAL TO EAT THAT WE BOTH ENJOY– EXCHANGE CARDS OR WRITTEN NOTES– BUT GIFTS ARE NOT A BIG THING WITH US– I HAVE NEVER BEEN A DIAMOND TYPE OF GIRL!!! 🙂 BUT GIVE ME A NOTE YOU HAVE WRITTEN & YOUR TIME– & YA GOT ME!!!!!!! 🙂
QUOTE “Have you (like me) been taken in by appearances or advertising? What’s your perfect present? Are all deserving of your love?”
THIS MORNING– I HAD LOTS OF E-MAILS– ON ADVERTISING OF BUYING GIFTS FOR VALENTINES DAY— GARY & I USUALLY DON’T EXCHANGE MANY GIFTS ANY MORE & HAVE NOT FOR MANY YEARS– WHEN WE SEE SOMETHING WE NEED– OR LIKE OR WANT– WE BUY IT– IF IT IS WITH IN OUR MEANS–BUT — I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THE ONE TO REASON EVERYTHING OUT– & IF WE DON’T NEED THINGS — WHY BUY THEM– WE HAVE A HOUSE FULL OF “STUFF”– & MUCH OF IT WE DON’T NEED— WE ARE TO THE AGE WHERE “STUFF” DOESN’T MEAN A LOT– NOW OUR GIFT MIGHT BE HEIRLOOM GARDEN SEEDS– OR DOGS TOYS– ETC- ETC– 🙂 WE TRY TO FIX SOMETHING SPECIAL TO EAT THAT WE BOTH ENJOY– EXCHANGE CARDS OR WRITTEN NOTES– BUT GIFTS ARE NOT A BIG THING WITH US– I HAVE NEVER BEEN A DIAMOND TYPE OF GIRL!!! 🙂 BUT GIVE ME A NOTE YOU HAVE WRITTEN & YOUR TIME– & YA GOT ME!!!!!!! 🙂
This is how it should be. If we only celebrate love with the one we love one day a year — those are a pretty sad 364 other days. Enjoy the night with those cute puppies and that great husband you are blessed with.
I wonder what would have happened if they reversed the study and had the men rate women’s attractiveness and then see their bios and rate them again? Curious if the men in the study would rate women as being less attractive if they were more educated/successful/powerful/accomplished, etc.
There is a novel called “The Engagements” by J. Courtney Sullivan, and one of the characters is the woman who wrote the deBeers slogan “A Diamond is Forever.” It’s a fun light read.
I’ve been a sucker for marketing more times than I care to admit. It’s hard not tobe , when advertisers keep coming up with ever more insidious ways to get into our psyches.
That would be an interesting study. Back when I was in high school (when we still wrote with rocks and chisels) a friend of mine was dumped by her boyfriend when the class rankings came out. She was ranked one place higher than him. I know some men who are totally secure with their wives making more money than they do. But I don’t know as if this has become the norm yet. I’ll have to check out the book I could use a fun light read. I supposed it would have been funny if I made everyone watch a commercial before I let them read the post. 😀 I didn’t think about until I wrote this comment but since I became disabled with MCS — I buy products that I never see advertised. I guess if the product is healthy for the earth and people — you don’t have to spend millions selling it.