There is nothing honest about what the tobacco-free folks do. They are experts at manipulating more than anything else – including health and public policy. What’s worse is that they do it right in front of everybody, but they hide behind the frighteningly efficient veil of “the greater good.” Yet, I downloaded their ever-useful guides from Tobacco Control Resource Center for Wisconsin website and gave them a through look over and a little scrutiny.
All I can say is this:
People had better start opening their eyes.
You can go out to the Wisconsin tobacco website, or look here since I compiled all of the sheets into a single PDF for ease of use. Either way, let me highlight a few gems:
From “Telling Powerful Stories: A Strategy that Works”
- “Stories connect to emotions and emotions influence peoples’ decisions and actions.”
- “When was the last time you heard someone say, ‘Have I got a juicy
statistic to tell you.’”
From “Go for the Gut:… Powerful Personal Testimony”
- “Think about how you would tell your story to your best friend. Your everyday language will sound authentic and sincere.”
- “Hit their Emotions”
- “’Make people cry” — ‘Go for the gut’ Your story will leave a lasting impression if you connect with your audience at an emotional level.”
- “Include a photograph of the person in the story. It may be more powerful to show them in their environment, for instance standing in front of their home or at their neighborhood school. Use text below a photo for your key message. This is the text that is most likely to be read.”
From “Youth are Essential at Joint Finance”
- “The JFC recommended groups present together…’we combined our youth into two coordinated groups with three speakers each. “Having a mass of youth up at the microphone was powerful to see.’”
- “Invite legislators to take a photo with youth from their district. These photos can be sent to local newspapers.”
From “When Please Doesn’t Work: Strategies to Motivate To Action”
- “It is who you know. People are most likely to respond to a person or organization they know and trust.”
- “Help people care. Don’t tell, show them why the action is important.”
- “Make it popular: Show people like them getting involved. Tell them how many others have signed up. Create the perception that lots of people are taking action.”
- “Ask for commitment: When people have made a commitment they are more likely to follow through.”
There’s lots more, but why copy it all here? The point is simple enough. This is all about manipulation of the people. It’s game to them (“in fact, the Middleton smoke-free movement even titled their emails “The End Game”). They get out there and manipulate the people and the government to see things their way. I think that these documents do a really good job of showing that.
So think about it. How easily are you manipulated?
Filed under: Wisconsin Ban, Wisconsin Culture | Tagged: manipulation, Smoke-free, Smoke-Free Wisconsin, tactics, wisconsin tobacco control
