Creating a monster

You might think that, as marketers, we might be at least a little more immune to marketing. Surely with all that we read and study up on and imagine and practice, we'll be impenetrable!

Today I was at Fountain Square with a coworker, Eric, just to walk off some of our lunch. There's always something going on at lunchtime at this hub of Cincinnati, and today was no different: people were congregating around a bunch of dirty cars and a tent.

Upon closer inspection we saw that it was a demonstration for Mr. Clean AutoDry Carwash. (We have no affiliation with this brand, it really is just an observation.) They had brought some dirty cars up and were washing them with almost no water-- the ground was completely dry. There was a dude with a mic explaining the whole process.

At this point, Eric and I started talking about marketing... and even in that hyper-conscious state we couldn't escape it. Knowing that we were being marketed to did not decrease our desire to huddle closer to the tent, or pick up some swag, or ask about pricing. We were still going through the scripts that Mr. Clean's agency must have dreamed up: "Wow! Did you see how little water that used?" "Whoa! They take your car from the Fountain Square parking garage while you're at work or shopping?!" "I wonder how much something like that costs!"

And of course: "Man, my car is filthy."

We talked about it. We gawked. I am blogging about it right now.

Am I complaining about marketing? Of course not. I just feel like good marketing transcends being tricked. I didn't feel duped into talking about it or dirty afterwards. This was a product demo that interested me and made me want to talk about the experience. I love when advertising steps beyond "let's invade this user's media space" and lives more in the space of "what would even a marketer be interested in passing on?"