I chose to sell my soul
To the corporate devil for
Just some pennies in my pocket
To buy from other people in
A world that only wants to sell.
So sell I will,
Regardless of that little pain
Lodged deep somewhere in my heart,
A sign that I’ve become a clone like them.
Disclosure: this post isn’t actually sponsored by anyone; but it sometimes feels like I’m the only person in the world not doing that.
I watch a lot of Youtube and it sometimes feels like every video I watch is interrupted midway, not by a regular advert, but by the creator peddling something.
This isn’t a post to bash people who have sponsors because how else are creatives supposed to make a living? If I’m being honest, I’d quite like to have a company contact me and say that they’ll pay me to do what I love. Who wouldn’t?
However, as a teacher and a mother to a teenager it does make me worried about how companies sell to people these days. Teenagers are bombarded with marketing and I think that half the time they don’t even know that it’s happening.
I think that eventually there will be subliminal messages sent to us in our sleep and we will all feel a compulsion to go out and order Hello Fresh and set up a Square Space website while also learning how to draw a duck on Skill Share. I dread the day…
Much Love
Rachel xx
Margot Kinberg
Advertising is a big, big issue, Rachel. I refuse to allow advertisement on my blog, but I pay for taking a stand on that. And I’m always getting emails inviting me to earn money with my blog and my YouTube channel. No, thank you. I completely understand your ambivalence about advertising; on the one hand, it’s good to earn a bit of cash. On the other hand, I don’t like the omnipresence of advertising.
patientandkindlove
Yep, it’s just the way that it’s hidden in a video or post that worries me. I don’t think kids can fully appreciate that there is a corporate machine at work behind all those paid partnerships.
Greg Dennison
I was thinking about that the other day. I see on Instagram these 16-year-old girls with sponsored bikini pictures and thousands of followers, and I think about how I’m so glad I didn’t have to go to school in today’s world. I’d be even more intimidated by the popular kids and feel even more socially hopeless having to compete with that.
patientandkindlove
I know, I remember spending the summer away from people in school and having no idea what everyone else was doing. It meant there was no competition and no jealousy. Now, it’s a completely different story; all you can do is spend time comparing!
Greg Dennison
Exactly…