I think it's why I both admire and loathe successful marketing
   campaigns, mostly due to their heavy use of emotional
   manipulation.

   I admire a practical use for psychology on a large scale.
   I loathe a practical use for psychology on a large scale that is
   designed to get people to open their wallets without them being
   fully conscious of it.

   Do you remember "Arms of an Angel" Sarah McLaughlin ASPCA ad a
   few years ago?

   I could "feel the pull" within seconds of it coming on TV. I
   thought, "WHAT IS HAPPENING?" for just a moment, then turned off
   the TV. It was too strong. I didn't like the emotional
   manipulation happening so quickly. The song, the image of the
   dog, my feelings pulled towards a picture of a dog because of a
   song and film techniques.

   I wouldn't watch the commercial for that reason. In fact, it
   made me lose my taste for TV, which was kind of weak at that
   point anyway.

   About a year or so later, I looked up to see how successful that
   campaign was. It was EXTREMELY successful.

   It's not that it's a bad cause. I'm sure it's a fine cause.

   But the technique to pull me in and convince me to care without
   a single, "Hey, I'm going to make you feel something now."
   seemed wrong.

   We accept that's how it is. It's not going to change. But I
   still don't care for it. Our reality can be constructed by
   someone else and our beliefs changed in just a few moments with
   the right techniques.

   It's why I admire it.
   It's why I loathe it.