Go out and ask a bunch of your friends whether or not they have a preference for Coke and Pepsi. Some people say they taste the same, but most people will say they can taste the difference. You probably have some vague memory of the ads you've seen over the years for these products. Scantly clad, young attractive guys and girls in the prime of their fertile lives. Usually in party or holiday mode. Socialising. Relaxing. Wearing the latest trends in fashion, looking cool and having flirtatious fun.
Consciously there is not much going on, but branding doesn't work in our conscious mind. And our unconcious mind sees a very different meaning here. All the advertisers have to do is trigger you to have very subtle feelings. So subtle, that you don't even realise that they are there. Its the repetition of those subtle feelings that programs your unconscious mind to create the meaning. You see those messages all the time throughout your whole life. And at some point, eventually, you're going to feel a desire to fit in with the cool kids (especially during your adolescent years). And in those moments, your uncurious has already primed you to associate those feelings with certain brands through all those repetitious messages you thought nothing of at the time.
The take home message is that they still have to make a product that tastes at least reasonably good of course. But remember, the taste is only part of it. The rest is in the psychology of how the brands are marketed to manipulate the feelings and meanings we attach to them which distorts how we think they taste.
So if advertisers can trick our brain into making us prefer products, then how can we take back the power and control? If you would like to know how exactly to trick your brain into craving healthy habits instead, then this book is for you.
