By Richard Parker
The past few weeks have been the busy season for the proselytizing efforts of various religious organizations. While there have certainly been minor variations between the strategies of the different groups and individuals, the underlying theme has been the same. If you do not conform to the standards they describe, then you will be eternally punished in hell. They bring reassurance however, as this fate may be avoided by conforming and devoting yourself to their beliefs. You’re even rewarded everlasting life in paradise for it. This marketing strategy seems so familiar. But from where?
Cosmetics, dietary medications and other products related to the beauty standard in our culture utilize a similar strategy. Michael Jacobson and Laurie Mazur in their 1995 critical essay “The Iron Maiden: How Advertising Portrays Women” note that, “Since the birth of the modern advertising industry in the 1920s, marketers have sought to foster insecurity in consumers.” After all, if we were all perfectly content with the way we looked, would we really have a strong incentive to purchase Aphrodite’s Pink Nightie nail polish, go through plastic surgery to alter parts of our body, or purchase one of the thousands of weight loss pills such as DecaSlim?
These products all carry the message that in order to measure up to the socially constructed standard of beauty that is pervasive in our culture, you will need their products. Advertisements, unlike the hellfire preachers, don’t need to overtly inform consumers of the possible consequences of not measuring up to their standards. That groundwork as already been covered by decades of deliberate marketing efforts. We understand the implied notions that if we aren’t beautiful we may not be considered attractive by the people we want to find us attractive and that if we work hard on polishing our appearance we may catch the eye of that person we want attention from.
I’ve spent a great deal of time listening to the various religious organizations and individuals who come to our campus. Even in the past few weeks, I’ve noticed four themes crucial to the marketing strategy used to sell their product.
Each attempts to instill guilt and/or fear in students, by informing them that they are not measuring up to the standards of the belief system. The consequences of not conforming to their particular ideals are also directly expressed from warnings of hell and/or how the person speaking had led a miserable life until they had come to their product. The product is, of course, their belief system. Belief in their deity and the particular teachings that the proselytizing agency subscribes to is touted as the only way to avoid the negative consequences of hell and to receive the reward of heaven. To summarize, the four consistent themes presented are guilt/fear, negative consequences for not conforming to their standard, the product to help others measure up to that standard, and the rewards for achieving that standard.
The method by which these religious organizations attempt to coerce our fellow students into their belief systems is an egregious insult to our university. They create a negative atmosphere for the eyes, ears and minds of any student traversing past them. They frequently condemn nonbelievers, those with differing religious beliefs, those with similar religious beliefs that do not share the same denomination, the homosexual community, the educational system and science.
