A while back, 1984 seemed like it was so far in the future. Of course, that was 1949. America and its allies had won World War II, only to see a new and ominous threat arise and the commies threatened to fluoridate our water! And ice cream, children’s ice cream! Folks were tired of war and fearful of totalitarian regimes.
Technology had helped win the war, including radio communication, RADAR, and rocket & jet powered technologies. Anything was possible, and by golly, with a bit more tech who knew what Big Brother would be able to do. The Marlboro Man did not approve.
Then 1953 rolled around and brought a film version of H. G. Wells’ book to the masses. Many remembered the terrifying radio broadcast from pre-war ’38. As much as technology was finding its way into our post-war suburban living rooms, the collective American conscience loved how tech could help us live our lives as much as we feared what might come of it.
Above all, we feared our loss of privacy and individuality. The panopticon was no longer a prison to send people TO – it was a prison we ourselves lived in EVERYWHERE. Wiretaps, video surveillance equipment at work and on our streets, credit card transactions… Big Brother could find you, track you, watch you, control you.
“Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
Orson Wells used that premise for 1984. Luckily, a few decades later, a fearless tech impresario by the name of Steve Jobs, with his crack team of marketers including Chiat/Day and Ridley Scott, were ready to save us all. Big Brother got his pixilated teeth knocked out courtesy of a track & field-inspired savior wielding Thor’s hammer:
Upstart Apple brought us the graphical user interface and a mouse. People loved it. And perhaps more than any other piece of technology, it inspired people to love and have a personal relationship (para-social relationship) with technology. Making the products in China hasn’t changed the love affair too much.
Bring on the World Wide Web, and today, many American’s are comfortable making purchases online, sharing intimate personal details and photos, and their most deeply held personal convictions.
Caveat emptor. You might have bought that Apple iPad, but you don’t own it. Same for PS3. And in the near future, maybe not even personal correspondence you have sent in assumed privacy.
In the past you might have bought a book and received the material object made of atoms, bought some software and got the disk with documentation… Pay in cash and the publisher was none the wiser. Now your every more can be tracked – and not just maliciously – as you pay for and receive goods & services electronically in 1’s and 0’s. We’ willingly check-in to Foursquare, post our upcoming vacation to Facebook, and freely share our Social Security number when we’re not being scammed by Nigerian phishermen. And all we get is a stinking electron – we don’t even get the whole atom anymore!
So I rant about privacy and control, but what does it mean for us as marketers? As much as we promoted products with perfect lighting and tightly edited television spots to put our clients’ best foot forward. In the digital age, we must acknowledge that Big Brother is here to stay and strive mold him into a generous and protecting image. Participate in the conversation, empower our consumers, and offer clearly understandable language that explicitly states what and how we use information and allow consumers to decide what we learn about them. Violate that trust and the rapidly swirling 1’s and 0’s will punish you. Ask dictators the world over how that’s working out.
The pen is mightier than the sword – and the online world is one giant pen. With teeth.
