More about "Stupid"

I just wanted to write a response to Justine's comments on my last post, and elaborate on what I thought about Diesel's "Be Stupid" campaign.

Justine made a good point about the word “stupid” being used for another media campaign, but in a totally different context. The Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion and Sport also have sort of PSA’s (public service announcements) about why quitting is “stupid” and have their own stupid.ca website. I remember seeing these commercials on TV and print ads on the bus, and like she said, they do “equate smoking with the traditional sense of the word, to be dumb, dimwitted, mentally slow, not bright”. However, I wonder how successful this campaign is? I know teen smoking is a lot lower than it used to be, but in my opinion, the think the typical ads the government uses to dissuade teens from smoking were never very effective. I think the stupid.ca campaign is typical of government PSAs that use simple language and follow the “traditional” fear tactics. Did you visit their website? It actually isn’t its own website, but linked to through the Ontario government’s site. Its actual link is:  http://www.mhp.gov.on.ca/en/youth/stupid/index.asp, and in my opinion, the site is not that interesting to navigate through, check it out. 

What I think Diesel is trying to do (whether it appeals to you personally or not) is be different, and change the definition of the word. Stupid is a loaded word in English (and many other languages as well) and typically has a negative connotation. It has many meanings, and can be used as a noun, adjective or adverb but according to Dictionary.com, stupid can be defined as “lacking in common sense, perception, or normal intelligence” and “trivial, silly, or frivolous” as well as what I think you were referring to: “having dull mental responses; slow-witted”. I think with so many meanings, there is a lot you can mean by when you say the word, as Diesel pointed out in their “Stupid Philosophy”.

Like Justine pointed out, people typically equate “Stupid” with the “having dull mental responses; slow-witted” definition, as show by the guys who participated in the “Jackass” TV show and movies (they also have their own video game too by the way). However, according to IMDB (the Internet Movie Data Base) Jackass: The Movie grossed $11,125,224, Jackass Number Two grossed $18,755,517 and Jackass 3D Grossed $117,224,271, all in the USA alone. That means their movies alone grossed over $147 million dollars, from ticket sales alone, not to mention video rentals and merchandise for a relatively low budget films. 

Would making these movies be equated with “lacking in common sense, perception, or normal intelligence”? Maybe physically, but not from a financial perspective! I think this would fit perfectly with what Diesel said: “Smart may have the brains…but stupid has the balls”. Johnny Knoxville and his friends were willing to do “stupid things” (ie. Because of their “dull mental responses”) on film to entertain their fans and it paid off. I’m sure they love what they do, and I think this is their way of pursuing a “regret free life”. 

  

Justine also made the point that “stupid is the definitive path to a life full of regret, isn’t it? When you make bad, stupid decisions, you regret them, no?” but I wouldn’t agree. Of course you could do things that are “stupid” because you are “slow-witted” but I think you learn from all your mistakes. There’s a reason for the saying “whatever doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger” because you learn to a.) not make the same mistake again or b.) how to do things better next time or c.) grow from the experience and become a stronger person because of it. I don’t think you should chose to do things you will regret later, but once they are done, I think regret is a waste of time. 

I think some decisions I’ve made are “stupid” (ie. “Silly”) like when I decided not to take Math 12 in high school because “I didn’t want to have a degree/career where I would ever need Math 12” because, sure I ended up having to take it as a prerequisite for one of my 3^rd year courses at University, and it was a pain. But because of that, I had to take the Math 12 equivalent course at the local college (Camosun) and it was quite the experience. No regrets there. And I know in my life, I’ve made some decisions that are “stupid” (ie. “lacking in common sense”) like living with one of my boyfriends in university after dating for only 6 months, but I learned a lot, and would never want to “take it back”. 

So although Diesel only created this campaign to sell jeans etc., I do support their “stupid” campaign and believe they have some words to live by. That being said as “stupid” does have so many meanings that I think one has to be careful not to just take them at their word that being “stupid” (ie. “slow-witted”) is “cool”, like Brittany S. Pears on Glee. It is important to be intelligent, and learn, but by doing it in a “stupid” way, (ie. “lacking in common sense, perception, or normal intelligence”) is ok with me. Don’t do things because you worry about what people will think about you, do them because you want to, even if its “stupid”. 

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*Please note that I have not been paid by Diesel to write this post, and neither do I own, or ever plan to own anything made by Diesel. Unless one day I do. In which case it has nothing to do with this "stupid" (ie. trivial, silly, or frivolous) post.

My Social Media Personality

I would describe my social media personality as social, personal (honest) and opinionated. I like to share information I learn, give my personal, honest, opinions on subjects and usually chose a side rather than just sit on the fence regarding issues.

The marketing industry tries to tell stories to make their brands more personal, so that is what I'm going to try to do with my blog. Marketing today is synonymous with social media, and creating connections while interacting and engaging with users, so I think being personal is a very important part of building a brand in today's world. I think opinionated blogs are more interesting to read, so I will try to do this (without being too offensive I hope!) to keep my readers entertained.

If I could relate myself to any current social media campaign, it would be the Italian Fashion brand Diesel’s campaign called "Be Stupid". At first it sounds like they are trying too hard to be "counter-culture", but according to Diesel representatives, “'Be Stupid' is not an ad campaign, it's a manifesto." They say Stupid = Brave, and have a great video describing their philosophy…

“Stupid is the relentless pursuit of a regret free life...The stupid isn’t afraid to fail. The stupid know there are worse things than failure… like not even trying.”

Their new campaign includes videos and print ads, an interactive website as well as the social media aspects of branded programs with Twitter, FourSquare and Facebook and a mix of blogger relations (whatever that means). Its honest, a little harsh (like I tend to be) and it certainly has stated its opinion clearly (“Smart may have the brains…but stupid has the balls”.) And it doesn’t hurt that they sell some pretty cool jeans, clothing and accessories and the side. Their slogan for their women’s denim collection this season is “Don’t just be cool, be powerful”. As a strong woman myself, it’s hard not to like that!

Some of their print ads go a little far with their “sexy” imagery, but I still like the message. I think sometimes people try to hard to be "smart", that they forget to live a little, and make mistakes. Some people may say getting a Bachelors of Arts degree in today’s technologically based society is stupid, but I don’t regret it for one minute. “The smart might recognize things for how they are. The stupid see things for how they could be”.That me, the constant dreamer.

I think it’s hard to find many media campaigns today that really pushes the envelope, so kudos to Diesel for trying something different. And like they say, “Stupid is trial and error. Mostly error” so at least they can always reference this, if something goes wrong with the campaign! 

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Diesel’s Stupid Philosophy

Like balloons, we are filled with hopes and dreams. But over time a single sentence creeps into our lives. Don’t be stupid. It’s the crusher of possibility. It’s the world’s greatest deflator. The world is full of smart people. Doing all kind of smart things… That’s smart.

Well, we’re with stupid. Stupid is the relentless pursuit of a regret free life. Smart may have the brains…but stupid has the balls. The smart might recognize things for how they are. The stupid see things for how they could be. Smart critiques. Stupid creates. The fact is if we didn’t have stupid thoughts we'd have no interesting thoughts at all. 

Smart may have the plans… but stupid has the stories. Smart may have the authority but stupid has one hell of a hangover. It’s not smart to take risks… It’s stupid. To be stupid is to be brave. The stupid isn’t afraid to fail. The stupid know there are worse things than failure… like not even trying.

Smart had one good idea, and that idea was stupid. You can’t outsmart stupid. So don’t even try. Remember only stupid can be truly brilliant.

So, BE STUPID

Thats me!

Transparency in todays social world

When many people in the public think about the marketing industry, they think it’s all about advertising trying to convince you need something you don’t need. Like used car salespeople, they lie and try to make a crappy product seem like a good deal because they are only out to make money at all costs, and don’t care about your rights as consumer. Transparency, what transparency?

What people don’t usually think about is all the laws and standards that have been developed over time to protect consumers from false advertising and increase transparency in the industry. The ASC or Ad Standards Canada recently caught my eye when they came out with their “Truth in Advertising Matters” campaign which asserts “Dressing it up doesn’t make it true”. They released TV commercials like the "I was going to the library" one, which is actually kind of funny.

The ASC works with 150 advertisers, agencies, media organizations and suppliers to develop Code of Standards and are committed to truth, fairness and accuracy in advertising – but you still have to wonder about if they need to advertise that fact. And does anyone really believe the iPad is “Magical” as stated in this TV commercial? Current, yes. Literary, sure. But magical?? Somehow, I think not.

But mediums like TV (and radio before it), and magazine (and newspaper) advertising has been around a long time. People are skeptical, and know marketers often exaggerate the benefits of their products (like this fake ad for Powerthirst shows). But for those gullible enough to believe everything they hear, there are now standards, and laws, and advertisers can’t just come up with a product that makes false claims (Apple example excluded) without consequences. Marketers need to be transparent, and state that they advertising a product, and not claim to be an unbiased source.

So what does being transparent really mean? According to a blog Shel Holz wrote, transparency is:

“[T]he degree to which a company shares its leaders, employees, values, culture, strategy, business processes and the results of those processes with its publics. It’s the opposite of opacity, in which companies operate behind closed doors and shuttered windows."

So what about all the new mediums companies chose to use to engage and interact with its fans or consumers? Fewer laws that govern the way the internet, mobile phones and social media applications are regulated, but does that mean transparency doesn’t matter?

According to Tish Grier, who wrote about Transparency in Social Media: Ethical Considerations in Marketing for her blog The Constant Observer, there are two levels of transparency which are important for companies to follow, that also supports the fact that social media needs to be authentic. The first level of transparency is vendor to client, where it should be disclosed if some parts of social media are outsourced or written by the consultant. In other words, be clear in the kind of services you offer. The second level of transparency is from client to customer, and she says it should be fully disclosed if the content is being created not by someone who is directly affiliated with the company, but by a representative or contractor for the client. The FTC Endorsement Guides mean that if someone takes payment to write on a blog they must disclose that they were paid but also if someone is hired to blog for a company, it should be disclosed that the content produced is coming from someone outside of the company.

Grier states “Are you willing to risk the customer relationships you could be cultivating through social media, and perhaps risk your company's reputation, by sacrificing transparency with both your clients and their customers?”

I would hope not. Transparency and authenticity is important to all companies and brands trying to build relationships with its fans or customers. Just like hiding the truth from friends can create problems in your social relationships, lying to your customers or fans can also damage your business relationships.

The most obvious example I can think of is all the trouble Facebook has got into with its privacy laws. When the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada released a report in 2009 stating Facebook breaches Canadian privacy law, the CBC reported “its main concern was that users could not always give "meaningful consent" to the use of their personal information due to a lack of transparency on the site” and although they provide some information about privacy issues, “it is often confusing or incomplete".

Some people were outraged, some didn’t care. A national “Quit Facebook Day” (which has its own website quitfacebookday.com) was organized, but it mainly fell flat. However, it did bring attention to the transparency problems of the popular social media site, and all the negative publicity might have been enough for Facebook to actually take action.

On February 26, 2009 Mark Zuckerberg (CEO of Facebook) posted a blog on Facebook called Governing the Facebook Service in an Open and Transparent Way, updating users on the progress of the new Terms of Use. He wrote, “We decided we needed to do things differently and so we're going to develop new policies that will govern our system from the ground up in an open and transparent way.” And they introduced two new additions to Facebook: the Facebook Principles and the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. This helped quiet some of the disputes people had with Facebook, but I’m sure there is more for them to do, not to mention all the other social media platforms out there.

Of course there are limits to transparency, and I’m sure Facebook would argue that it doesn’t want all its trade secrets known, or it would loose its competitive advantage. Others companies market products around their mystique or “cool” factor, and if we all knew how iPads were created in bleak factories in China, they might loose some if their “magical” appeal. Sure, in theory it’s up to the courts to decide how transparent companies need to be, but with technology changing so quickly, it is tough for laws to keep up.

For example, there is little transparency in the mobile industry, and in many cases, smartphone app developers send collected data to third parties for profit, without their owners knowledge. TPM recently wrote an article called Mobile Apps Come With Huge Privacy Loopholes, Little Transparency which pointed out that Apps running on the iPhone, Android and BlackBerry platforms often collect personal information to be resold to marketing companies and initiatives such as Google's AdMob. This was in response to a report released by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) entitled Your Apps Are Watching You that showed how iPhone and Android apps are breaching the privacy of smartphone users and sending a mobile phone's unique device ID, location and other personal details to other companies without users' awareness or consent. This article pointed out that although ad sales on phones account for less than 5% of the $23 billion in annual Internet advertising, but “spending on mobile ads is growing faster than the market overall”. Something for marketers and consumers alike to think about.

So of course it is important for social media sites to be transparent and authentic while connecting with fans or consumers, but what I think the real thing people need to remember is that consumers are part of the process, and, so they need to demand transparency from marketing and other organizations. Similar to the saying “ignore your rights and they will go away” people need to pay attention and care (!) about what companies are doing, or they will only become more closed door, and “opaque”.

Social media only succeeds because of us, so collectively, I hope we can agree that transparency matters!


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Update: The new Apple commercial now refers to the iPad as "Amazing" and not "Magical". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JP8wKtFA4Io 

About me

My name is Victoria, and although I am a full time student right now, I love being social as much as I can. I love asking questions, getting to know people and exploring the world around me. For me, this means learning and absorbing as much as I can, which lead me to obtaining my BA in Psychology at UVic in 2007. I love learning about the mental processes and behaviour of people, so even though I had no clear career aspirations at the time, I knew it was the right fit for me. 

After graduating university I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, but I ended up getting a job for a Market Research company. Although I wouldn’t exactly call my job Psychology related, (it involved a lot of “free time”, where I honed my online reading skills) it did develop my interest in marketing. After all, isn’t marketing just one big social experiment, with money on the line, and power and politics getting in the way? After putting in a solid 2 years at my job, I decided it was time to go back to school and decided to complete my Marketing Management certificate in Communications at BCIT.

About this blog... 

I love using technology, and primarily the internet, as a tool for learning and connecting with people and I always like to try out the newest applications; from MSN Messenger in the ‘90’s to Google Chat today, and from Hi5 in the early ‘00s to Facebook today. My current obsession is with Google Reader, which lets me keep track of the over 40 different websites/bloggers I subscribe to via their RSS feeds. Despite all this learning and absorbing, I’ve never had the time (or desire) to start a blog to actually share what I've been learning/thinking/observing. That’s about to change! 

With the recent popularity of Social Media, I’ve realized it is the ultimate combination of my love of social processes, psychology and marketing.  I hope to use this blog to share all my observations and thoughts and start conversations about the information I come across in my day to day life, not only in social media, but marketing and current events. I love asking "why??" and trying to find out what makes people and organizations tick. I also know from taking online courses at BCIT that connecting with people about meaningful topics can be very rewarding, and I hope to combine the two! 

In the future... 

After finishing my certificate at BCIT I hope to find work in the Marketing sector, and I want to use this blog to work on developing my personal brand. So all you companies out there, looking for an eager, educated, social addict, look no further!

Socially yours,

Victoria