Understanding Advertising

Advertising is not Murder

Dr. Anglerfish or: How I stopped worrying and learned to love the ad.

Ruthless, cunning, deadly. In the darkness it waves its lure, hoping to draw its next meal.

Advertising.

It seeks to devour every available dollar. And while it does not deliver death, advertising can feel ruthless and invasive, inserting itself where we least expect it. And it is relentlessly hungry and on the prowl.

A ghost-like female anglerfish, with two males attached. Photo by Neil Bromhall.

I long considered advertisement to be no less predatory than an angler fish.

The angler fish, for those who don’t know, is an especially cunning and conniving predator. Over time it has developed a long modified dorsal fin that serves as its own fishing rod, which it dangles in front of its mouth. In the dark of the ocean depths, the lure sits far enough away that the angler fish escapes detection.

The esca, a bioluminescent lure at the end of the fin, looks like food to other fish. When a suitably sized fish draws near to eat, the angler fish shoots forward and surrounds it with rows and rows of razor-sharp teeth.

Angler fish mating is just as disturbing. Females are generally larger, and when they encounter each other in the depths, the male draws…