# Most blatantly manipulative media you’ve ever seen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 29, 2021, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatantly-manipulative-media-you-ve-ever-seen/956824 "2021-12-29T01:14:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2021, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatantly-manipulative-media-you-ve-ever-seen/956824/21 "2021-12-30T15:46:13Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > As someone with bad dandruff as a teen women WILL recoil in horror if they see you scratch your head and see white flakes fall off. But you can turn it to your advantage. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/64R5fcSWlHs/maxresdefault.jpg "King Of Scurf") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64R5fcSWlHs) ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2021, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatantly-manipulative-media-you-ve-ever-seen/956824/22 "2021-12-30T16:02:34Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > Virtually any fiction involving dogs. Seems like putting a sad dog on screen is all it takes to get people sobbing and it drives me nuts. I don’t lack empathy for dogs. I love furballs of all kinds, but…jesus, are most people such soft touches that you can literally put no work into it? Cue the Sarah McLachlan pet commercials. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2021, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatantly-manipulative-media-you-ve-ever-seen/956824/23 "2021-12-30T16:47:12Z")
Sarah McLachlan wailing remembrances over slow-mo pictures of starving dogs has got to be the worst but one that immediately angered me the first time I saw it was the Tide commercial warning caring moms about the scourge of INVISIBLE dirt on newly cleaned clothes. At least there really are homeless dogs. I can’t get over Tide trying to make people feel guilty about invisible, odorless dirt. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2021, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatantly-manipulative-media-you-ve-ever-seen/956824/24 "2021-12-30T16:58:52Z")
I tried watching Bosch. The first episode is about Harry Bosch, an LA police officer, on trial for shooting a suspect with no criminal record, even though he had pulled a gun. The suspect was a serial killer and he was cleared by the department. During a weekend suspension of the trial he goes back to work against orders and gets involved in a case in which a child’s bones were discovered. A horribly abused child. He is going to stick with the case no matter what. I never watched episode two. Any show involving a dead battered child and an on-the-edge cop whose mother was a prostitute who left him to be brought up in the foster care system was problematic back in 2014 when it aired and propaganda today. Yes, I know it was based on a long series of books. I’m sure the books are even more manipulative. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2021, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatantly-manipulative-media-you-ve-ever-seen/956824/25 "2021-12-30T18:48:08Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > “Blatantly manipulative” may be a loaded term, but I don’t think you can top The Man and the Dog in any form of communication. I’m a sucker for any commercial – or movie, or anything, really – that features dogs. But that one is just stupid. It starts off with heartwarming scenes of an old man and his dog – beautiful! But the old man gets a heart attack and is rushed to hospital, where the dog anxiously waits for him. Surprise! The old man dies. How delightful! But then a young woman comes out of the hospital, and the dog rushes to her because … what? The dog recognizes that she has his master’s kidney? Liver? Spleen? How does the dog know this, and why is the dog attracted to an internal organ rather than an individual? ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2021, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatantly-manipulative-media-you-ve-ever-seen/956824/26 "2021-12-30T22:26:23Z")
I know Russia Today is pure propaganda but I never understood why RT is a problem while Al Jazeera TV wasn’t also seen as a problem since it did the exact same thing. They frequently do the same thing about pointing out every flaw of Western countries/Israel and glorifing their own countries of interests. It even goes conspiratorial and often promotes “false flag” theories in it’s editorials. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2021, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatantly-manipulative-media-you-ve-ever-seen/956824/27 "2021-12-30T22:59:02Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Hair loss commercials can only sell by making someone feel insecure or self conscience. Displays of youth, beauty, and vigor are pretty hard-coded into our evolutionary desires. Anti-hair loss products did not in any way create a market for people to not want to lose their hair. It is true that hair loss is not a health problem, but people spend lots of effort making themselves look more attractive, and that effort long predates anything like advertising. > [@Sitnam](#): > > That all the solutions are silly hair stapling or snake oil is just added insult to injury. There are hair loss products/procedures that actually work. Just look at pictures of [pictures of Elon Musk 17 years ago and today.](https://www.quora.com/Was-Elon-Musk-bald) They are, I assume, not cheap. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2021, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatantly-manipulative-media-you-ve-ever-seen/956824/28 "2021-12-30T23:57:57Z")
@wolfpup Why not, it worked for Minnie Driver. > **[Return to Me](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Return_to_Me)** > > Return to Me is a 2000 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Bonnie Hunt and starring David Duchovny and Minnie Driver. It was filmed in Chicago and was released on April 7, 2000 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was Carroll O'Connor's final film before his death the following year. > Bob and Elizabeth Rueland (David Duchovny and Joely Richardson) live and work in Chicago — Bob as an architect, Elizabeth as a zoologist at Lincoln Park Zoo. > On the night of her fundraiser for a new primate house... ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatantly-manipulative-media-you-ve-ever-seen/956824/29 "2021-12-31T00:09:15Z")
When my local PBS station carried a half-hour of RT, they would always put a disclaimer at the beginning stating that the following program may include content that is offensive to some viewers. They also did that when they carried Al-Jazeera, although Al-Jazeera appears to have fairly unbiased American reporting although they are heavily anti-Israel. They still carry the BBC but do not have a disclaimer. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatantly-manipulative-media-you-ve-ever-seen/956824/30 "2021-12-31T00:12:14Z")
“Angel” is about a friend of Ms. McLachlan’s who died alone in a hotel room from a drug overdose. Likewise, those Humane Society ads have also played “Always On My Mind” (about a cheating SO on the road, from that SO’s perspective) and as for “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”, that line about “The first time ever I lay with you…” is probably NOT about a dog or cat curling up in bed with their owner. Donate to your local shelter. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatantly-manipulative-media-you-ve-ever-seen/956824/31 "2021-12-31T00:38:24Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > I never understood why RT is a problem while Al Jazeera TV wasn’t also seen as a problem since it did the exact same thing. I think Al Jazeera is much better/more reliable than RT overall. And, if truthful, we should listen to what they are saying. Some of the criticism is stuff we need to hear. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatantly-manipulative-media-you-ve-ever-seen/956824/32 "2021-12-31T00:41:50Z")
I’d definitely say that **[this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-8PBx7isoM)** is blatantly manipulative, but in a good way. Damn, that’s well done. And not by the UK national government, either, just a small region with a creative ad agency. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatantly-manipulative-media-you-ve-ever-seen/956824/33 "2021-12-31T01:22:24Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > > [@Asuka](#): > > > > I never understood why RT is a problem while Al Jazeera TV wasn’t also seen as a problem since it did the exact same thing. > > I think Al Jazeera is much better/more reliable than RT overall. And, if truthful, we should listen to what they are saying. Some of the criticism is stuff we need to hear. I agree with this. RT is basically a propaganda arm of the Russian government, much the same way as Fox News is a propaganda arm of the Republican party. Al Jazeera may have bias (I’m not really a close follower, although I visit occasionally) but probably no more so than, say, CNN has US-centric bias. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatantly-manipulative-media-you-ve-ever-seen/956824/34 "2021-12-31T02:11:29Z")
Aren’t all PSAs manipulative? In fact, if they aren’t manipulative, what good are they? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatantly-manipulative-media-you-ve-ever-seen/956824/35 "2021-12-31T02:12:10Z")
In the Bosch novels, Harry is notorious for following a trail no matter what pressures he faces or how insignificant the victim is perceived to be. “Everyone counts or no one counts” is his motto. Of course, no detective in real life would get away with his short cuts. I’m not sure what’s “manipulative” about getting you to care about the victims, though. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatantly-manipulative-media-you-ve-ever-seen/956824/36 "2021-12-31T18:02:22Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Hair loss commercials can only sell by making someone feel insecure or self conscience. That’s why I got hair looming. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/uLMocDUkvzg/maxresdefault.jpg "Amazon Women On The Moon - Hair Looming") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLMocDUkvzg) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatantly-manipulative-media-you-ve-ever-seen/956824/37 "2021-12-31T19:10:08Z")
Older magazine ads – especially those targeting women – didn’t hide their manipulativeness: [![](https://media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com/image/upload/newscms/2016_32/1150147/mwo7i.jpg) ](https://media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com/image/upload/newscms/2016_32/1150147/mwo7i.jpg) [https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/8OpOtJhmsodWMdb0JhzHR5nYD501aIflaJiBt0yu8LM9rj0yGYNok\_6OikG9xtJzSGp3FlqPiiNdp9xzpFYNpYvrytoeiLETAJjQcyIf0RG0KHUvjLh8UQp\_33cm](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/8OpOtJhmsodWMdb0JhzHR5nYD501aIflaJiBt0yu8LM9rj0yGYNok_6OikG9xtJzSGp3FlqPiiNdp9xzpFYNpYvrytoeiLETAJjQcyIf0RG0KHUvjLh8UQp_33cm) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatantly-manipulative-media-you-ve-ever-seen/956824.md?page=1)