Cinnamon Zone
World from a different angle

subtle Marketing, unsubtle consumers

I love pharmacies. Let me into a nice pharmacy where painkillers and skin care products are neatly shelved and categorized and you'll get a metaphor better yet than that kid in a candy store.

 

So today I went into a pharmacy with my friend Sarah, who shares my love for pharmacies, and as we were waiting in the line at the cash register, one of the workers at the pharmacies who was a girl probably in her twenties approached us. She asked us if wanted any help and we said that we were already done and waiting to pay. Then she started telling Sarah that they have a very good product for blackheads and make up removal. She took us to the lane were that product was and told us it was medical, not cosmetic. Sarah took it and went to the cash as I stayed there checking out other products. The pharmacist then came to me again and told me that they have a very good product for facial care and those black circles around the eyes, and she said it in a way that made me feel like I have oil fields around my eyes. I said I wasn't sleeping enough but then I thought to myself that I was actually sleeping relatively well which is kind of freaked me out a little bit because I was wondering what could be causing those black circles! Anyway I told it her it was nice to know about it but I didn't want to buy it just now.

 

So, after that we went to some clothes store and I was still thinking about those black circles so I went up to a mirror expecting to see something horrible, but to my relief there was nothing of the sort, I thought I was perfectly normal, el hamdu lellah! So I went to Sarah and told her that I was checking my face in the mirror because that lady freaked me out and she was like: DO I HAVE VERY VISIBLE BLACK HEADS? I took a good look at her face where blackheads usually appears, and I noticed that even though she was wearing some make up her face looked really clean of black heads!

 

Nonetheless, I'm still thinking of buying that black circles products, why? Because obviously the people who use these marketing strategies know what they're doing and with whom they are dealing… it's pathetic really

 

 

(2) comments


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On August, 09, 2009 12:53 AM , Tariq
from Jordan said:

I must admit that I do share your love for pharmacies, I think it has something to do with the bright lighting and extreme cleanliness. Then again, I can't stand hospitals, I don't know if one likes one than it is a given that she/he should also like the other. My favourite though are supermarkets, and I mean the huge ones where you can purchase food for your cat AND a 48" plasma TV (not that I have ever purchased either!)
Marketing works because humans are very predictable, we are expected to behave in a certain way under given circumstances and we almost always do.
Tariq


On August, 09, 2009 9:24 AM , ola
from Jordan said:

Yeah I hate hospitals too, maybe it's the general atmosphere or the smell I don't know, but people tend to die in hospitals more often than they do in pharmacies, maybe that's why!

Thos big supermarkets are fun, I can spend 2 hours just shopping there, you know how shampoo bottles are lined for you to choose from so you can spend 10 minutes just figuring out which one to take, or the lane with different kinds of chocolate, sometimes things you've never seen before! I love it




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