Rightly said Gulshan. Coercion is just ONE aspect of brainwashing, and why i feel Chinmoy is adamant is because he wishes to look at only THAT aspect
In my previous post, I too have stated the definition of these terms

Brainwash means to pressurize (someone) into adopting radically different beliefs by using systematic and often forcible means:
And further "Pressurize" means attempt to persuade or coerce (someone) into doing something:

Chinmoy does not see the persuasion part of it or like you have aptly and correctly explained: the term 'brainwash' means- cause (someone) to change completely their attitudes and beliefs using repetition or mental pressure' Thus either repetition or mental pressure or both may constitute 'brainwash'

OMG!!! I see a lot of heat and dust!!!

Come on guys, let's not get so carried away and stop thinking of not participating further! The discussion is really getting so interesting and please do not forget that each members' views are equally valuable as the others. Everyone has a freedom to express what they feel about any subject. Also let us not forget that every issue, whether negative or a positive, has a pro and a con to it, so let's not make personal comments on each other!

Thanks Kimberly for appreciating and supporting my viewpoint. I wish Chinmoy could further go through others view point and offer his more comments instead of abruptly ending. I do not believe that he is obstinate. Sticking to one's viewpoint is not obstinacy.

I may add that the advertisers do not just satisfy themselves by forcefully highlighting the virtues of their products. They even engage popular actors and players as their 'brand ambassador' to influence peoples' mind. Most people particularly youngsters are impressed by these celebrities who are role models. Such activities can by no stretch of imagination be considered anything but brainwashing.

Hmmmm --- maybe I was a bit too harsh with Chinmoy! Ok ... maybe very harsh.
But, as Kalyani said, we are all entitled to our opinions. I guess I was just fed up of repeating myself to put my poitn through to Chinmoy and was a wee bit annoyed that he would only pick up "some parts" of the comments and miss out others and thereby misunderstand my comment and make it appear in a different light altogether!!

But, come on Chinmoy, there's still a couple of days to go and if you look at the previous posts, you got to admit - without the two of us, It wouldn't be the same!! :lol: Like Kalyani said, we did kick up such a lot of heat and dust!! :)
(Now, the rest of you guys don't get annoyed, I am not trying to offend you in anyway. That was intended in a lighter vein!)

Competition apart, this topic gets the Adrenaline pumping in me! I too was thinking, i'd better not check in for further posts - too much Adrenaline!! ;)
But then... couldn't resist!

Yes, the impact that ads and popular actors can have on youngsters is very... (i don't know which word to use - fascinating? Appalling? surprising?) ... ok i'll say amazing!
Remember that Ad for "Kellogs" I think and the little girl talking about how her mother took the challenge to fit into her "Katrina wali dress?"
Well, I was out shopping once with a friend and her daughter and she saw a similar looking red dress and she instantly told her mother "Look, Katrina wali dress. Why don't you buy it for yourself?"
To which my friend replied " It will not fit me!" and pat came the reply,"Then buy those Kellogs". We should have expected that, but nevertheless were left momentarily speechless! :))

Its amazing how kids especially absorb everything that they see and hear. That is another reason why I condemn those ads which are overly aggressive!

I'm sure it is possible to have impressionable ads without having the "brainwashing" aspect in them and I wish that advertisers would start to realize this!

It is nice to see the high participation in this GD.I don't go deep into the meaning of brainwash.But in common sense it means washing the brain!Yes if it is washed by a product it will be the only thing there.The advertisements that comes today is really creating confusion among customers due to these brain washes.

A few years ago I witnessed an advt in TV which gave a warning also that never try to imitate it.THat warning means people are really thinking that what seen in the advt is real and they also can try to be so.It is the best example of brain washing.

Abid- You have nicely understood the issue and given a good example to bring home that people are brainwashed by advertisements. Even TV serials affect innocent minds. Some children tried to imitate spiderman and were consequently injured.

I do believe that the advertisements sole objective is to create brand loyalty among as many persons as possible. They succeed to a great extent. Manyof our people are semi leterate and become easy prey to brand promotion. People are easily enchanted by the brand which is favored by a popular player or film celebrity- the so called brand ambassador.

Some have viewed that it is not possible to brainwash the people. If this were true, advertisers would have abandoned their futile exercise to brainwash consumers. Even cheats promising to double gold ornaments and fake lottery scamsters deceive the people. So many chitfund and investment companies cheat people through advertisements. Is this not successful brainwashing. My conclusion is that not only advertisers brainwash but also are successful in this fully or partially. In fact, they need only a partial success as they intend to capture only a portion of market share.

The difference of opinion on the term 'brainwash' is also not so significant. In fact, there appears to be unanimous opinion that the advertisements aim to create brand loyalty for certain products in preference to rival products. This may be described any way. As long as we are unanimous on the essence and object of advertisement, difference of opinion on meaning or definition of 'brainwashing' is not significant.

With this, I conclude my discussion.

{CJATTACHMENT ["id": 3530]}
Hmm! I forgot to conclude!

{CJATTACHMENT ["id": 3529]}

Well, interesting as it is,I see that many of our active members are enjoying a thorough discussion.But I feel we are focusing on technical terms when the statement given is quite generalized.

I also state that achieving brainwash is difficult because :
A. the consumer is aware.
B.Prices and other factors to affect the buying pattern.
C.There are just too many options available out there

The tools of advertising may achieve what is called brain-jam, brain clutter,creating a preference or confusion,but we can't ignore that it definitely tampers with your decision making process by either luring you or making you aware of other options.

And all products of all segments do go for the attempt,be it a soft drink that challenges,a telecom company that plays with your emotion by showing that it's services works on the borders of the country,a chocolate that tells to you start afresh,a salt manufacturer telling you that India loves them.Everyone in business uses it.

Through the discussion we have established so many viewpoints where the methods used,the extent to which it is used,the attempt of brainwashing was successful or not,the reliability as Kimberly pointed out might be definitely debatable.


I sincerely appreciate the viewpoints of all.Since the topic is generalized "Advertising,a form of brainwashing", Well,definitely YES,it is a form and in my opinion though I consider it to be a attempt for the said action.And I support Abid on this that its not required to go deep into the meaning of brainwash.

I feel advertisers now days are busy creating concepts that become a "recall point" for the consumers.However if they do successfully attempt brainwashing through their concepts,it becomes a "selling point" for the company.Followed by this they are awarded with customer loyalty .Maybe that's why exorbitant amount of money is shelled out on this form of promotion.


Hence non-technically concluding I would like to say,Advertising might not be a complete success for brainwashing for all brands today, it may not be the most reliable source either ,it may not be the reason consumers make all their purchase decisions, but it definitely and undeniably IS a form of brainwashing that is attempted by all businesses at some level or the other.