The House Insurance Ad: Everyday Emotional Blackmail

The ad begins with the sound of the sea lapping at the shore. A soothing voice begins by saying: ‘Remember your last holiday. The sand in-between your toes.’ This is Stage One — the Trigger. Stage Two is how the combination of the sounds of the sea, the soothing voice and the meaning of the spoken words make you feel — your Experience. In this case the advertisement is trying to induce a sense of enjoyment inside our minds. Stage Three, then, is your reaction when this experience of calmness, openness, and wistfulness is disrupted by a new trigger. After lulling you back to the beach, the tone suddenly switches. Gone are the soothing sounds of the water, and suddenly a police siren and a much gruffer voice pitches in: ‘While you were enjoying your holiday, your house was being robbed. Upgrade your house insurance today.’

Source: (III) Trigger, Experience, Reaction

The house insurance advertisement’s Mana was not to provoke in you a wonderful feeling just for the sake of it. In this example, just as with Russian Disinfolklore, the entire meaning of the message that shines through is the advertiser’s desire to provoke in you so much fear that you become open to the idea of buying house insurance. It is Everyday Emotional Blackmail.

Source: (III) Trigger, Experience, Reaction

The beach-to-robbery emotional whiplash is TER in miniature. First you are relaxed (Trigger 1 → Experience: enjoyment). Then you are terrified (Trigger 2 → Experience: fear). Your Reaction: you buy insurance. Disinfolklore operates on the same principle, but the “insurance” they are selling is genocide, capitulation, or autocracy.

Ekman Model | Back to Tool 5: Trigger, Experience, Reaction | Next: Moods, Intentions, Motivations, Attitudes →