The Marketing Unleashed Podcast – What common products and industries use scare tactics to sell?
Joel: All right. We are here with another episode of the Marketing Unleashed Podcast. This is the Halloween episode as you can probably tell from the eerie music and the random cat. Well, wee have Jamie, Jill, and Rachel. Now we’re actually going to be talking about creepy things that spook us in scare tactic marketing. It’s very ominous. All right. Is it going to close? Thank you.
Jamie and Jill: Perfect segue. Perfect.
Joel: Close the door. All right. Let’s get into this here. All right. We’re talking about scare tactic marketing, specifically for brands and products. Now obviously scare tactic is probably one of the biggest ways of getting people to buy anything. It definitely plays into our emotions to elicit the emotion of fear and anxiety.
Jamie and Jill: Right. When they say sex sells, I mean fear does it better.
Joel: Right. Yeah, exactly. And they actually use sex in a way for, specifically like beauty brands. You have the fear of not being attractive and that’s how it sells. So we just want to talk about some of the industries, some of the products that are specific and how it’s nonsense sometimes. And then we can also talk about a couple of things that fear actually helps. Fear marketing actually does good for individuals and society. I think one of the biggest frauds that I always come across is home security, security in general. This kind of false narrative. It’s weird because I fall into it as well, but this false narrative of, well, you’re going to be safer with a home security system or cameras around your house, or even if you choose to carry a weapon or mace, or anything.
Jamie and Jill: Right. Because first they get you with just having a home security system and then they get you with all of this extra stuff like the glass break sensor and all of these little window monitors, all this crap that you’re like, “Okay, do I need this?” And then all of the alarms for the outdoor and lights and-
Joel: Just so everybody understands, now since the 1960s, we’re talking 50, 60 years now, crime has actually gone down in the country by 60% overall.
Jamie and Jill: I never would’ve known that. I mean, from the advertisements they’re telling you crime is up, way up, to the top.
Rachel: Are you talking about home invasion type crime?
Joel: We’re talking about home invasion, we’re talking about robbery, burglaries, everything like that. It’s all going down. I mean-
Rachel: You know why.
Joel: … I can’t tell you exactly why.
Rachel: People are too lazy to actually go out and rob.
Joel: You think so? People are too lazy to criminalize anymore?
Jamie and Jill: Or is it because of our home security systems? Is it a deterrent?
Joel: Well, or is it because people … It’s harder …
Rachel: Maybe there’s just too much technology and you know you’re going to get caught.
Joel: Right, yeah. That’s where I was going towards.
Rachel: Video or cameras and phones.
Joel: Yeah, everybody has a cell phone camera now. I mean, let’s just face it, they just don’t take as much shit as they used to. I mean, people just … they’ll fight back.
Rachel: They just go rob stores instead.
Joel: Because I think the general idea is that if you go and you point a gun in any store clerk’s face, they’re just going to give you money because-
Rachel: Or they’re doing it online.
Joel: That’s true. They could be doing it online.
Jamie and Jill: Right. Crime has changed.
Joel: Yup, crime has changed. So home security systems is definitely one of those that … And mace and that kind of stuff. I don’t know. I mean, does anybody have mace on their keychain?
Jamie and Jill: Not anymore. I used to.
Joel: Why did you-
Rachel: I think I have on in my car.
Joel: Why did you stop carrying it on your keychain?
Jamie and Jill: Just cause I didn’t work downtown on the plaza anymore and I wasn’t walking home late at night, 11 o’clock by myself.
Joel: Okay.
Jamie and Jill: It was just that, I don’t need it anymore.
Joel: Well, now I mean our office is tucked away, and the walk from the door to your car is-
Jamie and Jill: It’s not dangerous anymore.
Joel: It’s not very dangerous.
Jamie and Jill: No, but back when you were in college age and you’re walking in certain areas.
Joel: Except for the squirrels. They get a little mouthy back here.
Jamie and Jill: Yeah, you never know.
Joel: I think there’s been a couple of snakes that we’ve seen that terrify me even.
Jamie and Jill: But with the mace thing, that’s a reasonable fear for a woman and that’s smart.
Rachel: That’s sleeping in a home too because it’s yourself, you’re out and about.
Joel: Well, personal security. Yeah, no.
Rachel: I think it’s different than home as far as the scare tactics. Do you know what I’m saying?
Joel: Well, okay, so we could talk about-
Rachel: Sometimes you could be putting yourself in situations that are more dangerous than your home, sitting there. You know what I mean? Without always just-
Joel: If you’re going into a neighborhood that doesn’t have a great reputation, and you’re making yourself open to that type of thing.
Rachel: Or even just a lot of women running alone.
Joel: Right.
Rachel: In parks and places like that.
Jamie and Jill: And stories are reported more of being attacked or-
Rachel: On trails.
Jamie and Jill: Yeah, because now I’m afraid to go hiking. Because everyone’s like, “Why don’t you go hiking by yourself?” I’m like, “Dude, I’m not going hiking by myself. Are you crazy?” It’s just the safety thing, that’s all it is. It’s a safety thing, and that’s probably just because of stories I’ve heard.
Rachel: But you don’t see a lot of commercials and ads about personal safety.
Jamie and Jill: No. You’re right.
Rachel: You see the home robbery, alarm, whatever, but you don’t see I guess-
Jamie and Jill: Right. I don’t see ads for mace.
Rachel: Right, or other protections.
Jamie and Jill: But you know it’s out there.
Joel: You know it’s out there, but you do see, I mean whether it be ads or … You just see people talking about conceal and carry. They have the holsters now or they conceal the guns very well. It’s that type of stuff I think.
Jamie and Jill: Those scare you into buying it.
Joel: Yeah, and it’s-
Jamie and Jill: They tell you that you need it for your protection.
Joel: Right.
Rachel: But also, it’s how much does a mace cost? I don’t really know.
Jamie and Jill: No clue.
Joel: 10 bucks, I’m guessing. I don’t know.
Rachel: Versus a monthly fee of a home alarm system. That’s where they get you because they’re [crosstalk 00:07:29] focusing their ad dollars on the big spenders.
Joel: Right.
Rachel: The mace is not really getting a lot of money.
Joel: Well, Misty carries a mace thing on her. Well, she did until she threw away her keys. I don’t think she’s replaced it yet, but she does it because she works … Veterinarian, they have a lot of controlled substances in the office and sometimes she leaves by herself. So like what you said, it’s for safety, even though her car is always right there by the door. But drug addicts.
Jamie and Jill: Yeah, I didn’t thing about that.
Joel: Drug addicts be drugging.
Rachel: Right.
Joel: They be doing their thing. So that’s a little worrisome, although she’s never had an issue and she’s never even heard of anybody having an issue. But it’s just in the back of her mind because it’s like the boogeyman’s always out to get you. That type of mentality. Rachel, do you keep any security things? Switchblade? Grenades?
Rachel: Not a switchblade but, yes, the grenade.
Joel: A couple of grenades. A couple of rates tucked away in your pocket?
Rachel: In my purse, yeah.
Joel: In your purse.
Jamie and Jill: That does remind me. I do keep a switchblade in my purse.
Joel: Do you?
Jamie and Jill: It’s a big old pocket knife.
Joel: Do you ever forget to take it out?
Rachel: I won’t sneak up on you.
Jamie and Jill: If I’m flying I have to remember to take it out.
Joel: Or any major event. You’re not supposed to have it.
Jamie and Jill: Yeah, you’re right. I got to remember to take it out, but it’s in there.
Rachel: I used to just have a bat, but I lived by myself.
Joel: A baseball bat?
Rachel: Yeah.
Joel: Okay.
Rachel: Like that. It was for girls softball. I don’t know what kind of damage that would’ve done.
Joel: Was it metal?
Rachel: Yeah.
Joel: Aluminium bat?
Rachel: I think it was.
Joel: Would’ve done some damage.
Jamie and Jill: If you have a good swing. Damn right.
Rachel: It’s better than nothing, I guess. Or even a hammer. I don’t know.
Joel: Now one thing that always makes me laugh, and I know some people here are bigger culprits than others, antibacterial products. So …
Rachel: Can’t live without them.
Joel: Right. People who carry around Duramax and do that whole thing. before every meal they GermX up. It’s funny because it doesn’t really help, because the minute you touch a utensil, all that bacteria is right back on you.
Jamie and Jill: Right.
Joel: And most of the bacteria found on your hands or any place, if you just regularly wash your hands, it’s actually good bacteria.
Jamie and Jill: Right. I think that’s general knowledge, well, hopefully. But back when that first came out, I mean they were really telling you that you need this stuff and it’s good for you.
Rachel: I mean, it’s pretty good for when you don’t have a soap and water situation, and you’re outside.
Joel: Right.
Jamie and Jill: Right, and that’s what it’s good. But they were telling you that you should be using this all the time and it’s better than washing your hands, or it’s just as good as washing your hands, but you’re stripping everything off. But I think everybody knows now that that’s not good to strip everything off of your hands.
Rachel: It’s like the second, I don’t know what I’m trying to say here, the second level after soap and water. It’s like second best. I think a lot of people know that. Soap and water.
Jamie and Jill: It’s good when you’re camping. Okay.
Joel: Well, and I would say this, if you’ve been out doing things and you’ve been touching a lot of door handles or whatever, it’s probably a better idea to do it right before you eat if you’re not going to go wash your hands. You’re not always going to take the time to get up and go wash your hands before you eat.
Rachel: I just feel like it makes you feel better. When I found out that my kid’s class doesn’t go wash their hands before lunch, which is really disgusting if you ask me, I put a little hand sanitizer keychain on her lunchbox. And I know she uses it because it’s half empty already.
Joel: It’s empty.
Rachel: But I’m like, “Well, I know you’re not going to go wash, so at least do this.” That makes me feel a little better.
Joel: In those circumstances, it’s fine. What cracks me up is whenever people, they’ll shake your hand or they’ll touch a doorknob and immediately they pull out their GermX. If you’re not going to eat something or touch your eye, which I guess sometimes you just touch your eye and not even realize it, or I guess pick your nose or do something, however the germs get into your body.
Jamie and Jill: But that’s a result of the marketing.
Rachel: You know … Sorry, go ahead.
Joel: I was going to say, I don’t feel like they market as much.
Rachel: No, I was just going to say that.
Jamie and Jill: Not anymore.
Rachel: You don’t see too much anymore. Yeah, not anymore because they’ve done their job. Everybody knows.
Joel: I also wonder if people call BS on it now.
Jamie and Jill: Well, yeah.
Joel: Because there’re so many studies out there that say if you overuse it, you actually get sick. You actually get more sick than-
Jamie and Jill: Because you don’t have that good bacteria to fight it off.
Joel: I mean you need bacteria in you.
Jamie and Jill: Well, I read that Listerine was … I mean that came out in the 20s and the marketing ploy behind it was to prevent halitosis, and nobody had even heard of the word halitosis.
Joel: I don’t know what it is.
Rachel: That’s really bad breath.
Joel: Oh, that’s what it is.
Jamie and Jill: That means bad breath.
Joel: Oh, okay.
Rachel: Really bad.
Jamie and Jill: So that was marketed towards people with bad breath, and that’s in the beginning what it was for.
Rachel: I mean scare tactics, I got to say they sometimes work on me. I mean even if I didn’t think of something that could be wrong and I hear about it, then I’m like, “Oh, my gosh, why am I not doing this?” For example, I put this collagen powder stuff in some of my drinks and I don’t even really know what it does.
Jamie and Jill: I’ve been reading about that too and I’m like, “Okay, so do I need this pill?”
Rachel: Do I need it? Oh, my gosh. Are my joints falling apart because I’ve haven’t been doing-
Jamie and Jill: Yeah, what is this hype about collagen now?
Rachel: And I know that dogs and stuff take the Glucosomine because I guess it’s like that.
Joel: It’s joint health.
Rachel: Yeah, but I’m getting a little old now.
Jamie and Jill: You’re right. That’s another big one.
Rachel: I might need my joint health supplements.
Jamie and Jill: Is the big pharma. They get you with-
Joel: Prescription and supplements and all that stuff.
Jamie and Jill: They make you think you’ve got a disease.
Rachel: Just stuff you’ve never heard of, and you think something’s wrong with you. That really gets maybe just me. I fall for a lot of stuff.
Joel: I fall for the supplement stuff but … I mean, I take supplements.
Jamie and Jill: I have so many supplements.
Joel: Not antibiotic, but probiotic stuff and-
Rachel: I feel like none of them really make a difference, but I keep on taking them.
Jamie and Jill: I’ve taken them and then stopped, and then I don’t notice any difference at all.
Joel: Right. Now-
Rachel: And then I wonder what’s wrong with me. Why isn’t it working on me? Why am I not getting these results?
Jamie and Jill: Because you can’t really feel them but you’re like, “Well, I read that it’s doing this for me so it must be doing it.”
Rachel: And then, what is it called? The placebo effect.
Jamie and Jill: Yeah, placebo effect.
Rachel: So maybe a little that’s coming into play.
Joel: Well, but I bet you if you went and did blood work before you started taking them, and then take them for, I don’t know, a few months, and then go and do blood work again, there’d probably be a difference. It’s just in the daily. I mean if you’re relatively healthy, why would you feel totally different?
Jamie and Jill: Right.
Joel: I mean they’re not going to give you X-ray vision or anything cool.
Rachel: Right.
Joel: It’s just it’s more-
Jamie and Jill: You hear something’s good for your heart or good … I started taking something that’s supposed to help my memory and I didn’t get it. I stopped taking that.
Joel: And also the food industry, the gluten, the-
Rachel: Organic, natural.
Joel: The organic, yeah. I don’t know, I mean there’s some-
Rachel: GMOs.
Joel: Yeah, there’s something to it in a way. If you have Celiac’s disease, I get it. I mean that’s a real issue. It’s no different than if you’re a diabetic, you can’t have sugar. I mean it’s just a body issue.
Rachel: Right.
Joel: But whenever they purposely market these things, it’s like you go to your grocery store today and they have whole sections for gluten free and all these specialty foods, and it’s probably what? A few percentage points of the population that actually need it, and there’s an aisle dedicated to this.
Jamie and Jill: Because of all the people that have been scared into thinking, oh, I can’t have gluten.
Rachel: I love gluten.
Jamie and Jill: It’s just a choice.
Rachel: Give me more gluten. It’s my major food group.
Joel: I ate one piece of bread and now I feel terrible. It’s like-
Jamie and Jill: It’s like, whatever.
Joel: Could be the lunch meat that’s been in your fridge for nine months, but I’m just saying.
Rachel: I noticed on our list a few things and a few other things that I fall for a lot, and we talked about this already. The beauty products, anti-aging stuff. None of that stuff works, but I feel for it all the time.
Jamie and Jill: We’re talking about the natural products like deodorants or toothpaste and …
Joel: Yeah, we were talking about that recently. Wasn’t …
Jamie and Jill: Yeah, it was yesterday.
Joel: We were talking about that yesterday.
Rachel: But that was like, “I need the chemicals.”
Joel: Yeah, please give me aluminium or whatever’s in [crosstalk 00:16:40].
Rachel: I actually did the switch to natural deodorant when I was pregnant because I don’t know. When you’re-
Jamie and Jill: Scare tactic. Why did you switch?
Joel: Because you were-
Rachel: Because I felt weird putting all these chemicals on when I’m growing somebody in there. I’ve still been using the natural deodorant and it’s making me crazy itchy. I need to go back to the old-
Jamie and Jill: I know, but did the doctor say that-
Rachel: No.
Jamie and Jill: … your regular deodorant is bad for you?
Rachel: He didn’t really say, but that was another thing I was going to talk about is when you’re pregnant, it is nothing but scare as far as what you can eat, drink, slather on yourself, whatever. It’s like pretty much everything is bad for you.
Jamie and Jill: So you’re afraid of everything that you put in and on your body.
Rachel: Yes, you spend nine months being afraid of everything. The first time around I actually wasn’t, I was just like whatever, which I guess it’s usually the reverse. Usually the first time you’re like, ah, but with each kid I start getting more worried about what I’m doing and-
Jamie and Jill: That is weird.
Joel: Which is weird because I mean we’ve been having babies as a race, or not race.
Jamie and Jill: As humans.
Joel: As humans.
Jamie and Jill: Well, a human race.
Joel: Yeah, as the human race, for I don’t know, 6,000 years, give or take. Something like that. I don’t know.
Jamie and Jill: A long time.
Joel: A long time.
Rachel: They really get to pregnant women though, because how jerky would you feel as a mom if you’re over there pounding the … I mean, what is it that you’re not supposed to take? I think it’s Advil that you can’t take. One of the pain relievers, you just cannot.
Joel: Really?
Rachel: Yeah.
Jamie and Jill: Well, Advil is really bad on your liver and kidneys.
Rachel: Something. I can’t even remember now, but how bad would you feel if you’re over there doing something and then find out, oops. Or retinal, that’s a product … Joel probably doesn’t know about this. It’s supposed to help your skin.
Jamie and Jill: With wrinkles.
Rachel: With wrinkles and all that. That’s a big no-no when pregnant.
Joel: Because it absorbs?
Rachel: Yeah, and it could cause birth defects, stuff like that. But they don’t really put it out there too much. It’s not on labels.
Joel: Or is it … I mean-
Rachel: You have to do the research on your own.
Jamie and Jill: Pretty much everything says, do not take if you are pregnant or breastfeeding or thinking about becoming pregnant.
Rachel: That’s more like medications, but as far as cosmetics and stuff like that, you’re pretty much on your own to figure out.
Joel: Well, I saw a story, I don’t know, it was a month ago on the news, that there is no regulation on makeup and a lot of cosmetics.
Rachel: Yeah, in this country.
Jamie and Jill: Right.
Rachel: I think in other countries there are.
Joel: There might be.
Jamie and Jill: I read that too.
Rachel: It’s weird.
Joel: It is weird.
Rachel: I mean you’re putting it on yourself, stuff gets in your skin. It’s not like-
Joel: It absorbs. Well, and they use so many dyes. I don’t know how they get the color in it, but it’s-
Rachel: So much weird stuff.
Joel: They’re not grounding up roses. I can tell you that much.
Jamie and Jill: That’s why there are so many consumers that are into the vegan beauty products, and the ones that don’t test on animals and things like that.
Rachel: Right. I just remember when I first heard about organic skincare and beauty products, I was like, “What? That’s for food. That’s ridiculous.” And now I get it more. [crosstalk 00:19:57]. But I just thought it was so stupid, and now I’m like, “I guess I get it.”
Joel: Okay, let’s just say that you have two humans, right? That are born the same day, same time, pretty much. They both go through their lives. One avoids all this, don’t eat this, don’t put this on yourself, don’t consume this. The other one just lives life like normal, buys the regular consumer brands, everything like that.
Rachel: Goes out without sunscreen.
Joel: Goes out without sunscreen, does everything that people have been doing for decades or hundreds of years. And if the one that did it like everybody else did it, live their life, if they live to be, let’s just say 85, okay? And the other one lived to be 88. Is that a huge difference?
Jamie and Jill: No.
Rachel: And then you never know if they’re born with some … One might have a heart condition and the other [crosstalk 00:20:49].
Joel: Well, no. I’m just saying they’re basically like twins, or better yet they are twins. The same genetic makeup, everything like that. I mean it’s just like, is it really going to make that big of a difference in the long run? I mean-
Rachel: I don’t think anyone’s willing to take that experience.
Joel: Well, I don’t think anybody is willing to do-
Rachel: You should play some Frankenstein music right now.
Joel: I don’t think anybody has the, I don’t know, resources to do that kind of study. I mean you have to do it over a whole lifetime and you’d have to make sure they don’t die of something else, car crash or whatever else. But I think that would be interesting to see, and maybe that will actually happen at some point because people get so negative on all these fads that are outright. Some research company is going to say, “You know what? We’re going to put this to the test and figure out just how much BS we’re actually being fed.”
Jamie and Jill: That would be an interesting study.
Joel: It would be, but it would take-
Jamie and Jill: It would take a lifetime.
Joel: I mean there’d be multiple people involved, multiple generations involved.
Rachel: Maybe you should just get some of these companies creating these products together and be like, “Just tell me the truth. Are you making up all this stuff? Just tell us.”
Joel: And then whenever they admit it, the sales just plummet. Insurance. Now, I mean at least in the state of Missouri, you have to have car insurance to drive a vehicle and you have to have home insurance to have a mortgage. That seems like a pretty safe thing. But life insurance, that Aflac stuff where they cover-
Jamie and Jill: Those are the big ones.
Joel: That’s an interesting thing to think about. They really try to scare you into that. I mean most people don’t die before, I don’t know, their lat 50s or 60s at the earliest.
Rachel: But it’s like how else do you sell that stuff otherwise?
Jamie and Jill: But they scare you into travel insurance and then rental car insurance, and credit card. Anytime you buy something, they’re like, “D you want the extended warranty? Do you want an insurance for this?”
Rachel: Because the minute you don’t buy the phone Apple protection plan-
Jamie and Jill: Right.
Rachel: … then your phone gets busted and you feel like an idiot.
Jamie and Jill: Right. Protection plan for everything. I mean it’s insane.
Joel: I fall victim to those. I do buy the protection plan on-
Jamie and Jill: Because it’s only $5. Oh, shit. Then I do need it.
Joel: Well, because on the phone it’s like I need a phone. I mean it’s my only way of communicating with people when I’m not in the same room with them. So I have to have a phone, I have to have a car. I still keep full coverage on my car. Things have been paid off for three or four years now, but I keep full coverage because I got to have enough money to go buy another car right away. But that’s the scare tactic.
Rachel: Heard some screaming in the back.
Joel: It really is a spooky day here. But the life insurance stuff, I mean I’d say if you got a lot of debt or you got a mortgage, you need to have something to protect it. Well, whenever I hear of people who don’t have children and it’s just … Like one of my buddies, he’s like, “Yeah, I got a $1 million policy.” I’m like, “You don’t need $1 million. You don’t have kids and you don’t plan on having children. What do you need $1 million for?”
Jamie and Jill: Yeah, for real.
Joel: Cover the mortgage and that’s it.
Rachel: If his wife’s making some plans.
Joel: Right, exactly. That’s what it sounds like to me. Hope he doesn’t listen, but you should only have as much as you actually need unless you have kids and you got to think about how much they need too, to get to, I don’t know, 18, 22, whatever. And then they’re on their own.
Rachel: I guess a lot of the stuff is, do you want to feel like an idiot at the end of the day for not doing something so that-
Joel: For insurance.
Rachel: Or just a lot of stuff.
Jamie and Jill: That’s another one. It’s the fear of missing out. They make you feel FOMO.
Joel: Oh, yeah, like Nike. Well, Nike, they do their tagline, just do it. I mean that’s the total FOMO.
Jamie and Jill: The total FOMO.
Joel: They make you feel like, if I’m not involved right now I’m missing out.
Jamie and Jill: I think nowadays, if it’s not a morbid or making you feel like crap, then it’s the fear of missing out. That’s the scare tactic. It’s like you’re going to miss it. You’re going to miss this sale.
Rachel: Right.
Jamie and Jill: You’re going to miss out on what we have going on and you’re a loser.
Rachel: A lot of self-esteem stuff too, I would say.
Joel: Insecurities and stuff?
Rachel: Yeah. Oh, man, why didn’t I do that kind of thing.
Jamie and Jill: You’re not going to be beautiful and you’re going to suck, and you’re a loser if you don’t get this.
Rachel: Another thing I just thought of, a lot of the medications out there. You see the depression ads. I can’t even think. What is the one? There’s one with a really weird name that makes me laugh every time. It’s like-
Jamie and Jill: Rick Salty?
Rachel: No, it’s something with a weird name. I’m like, “What is that?”
Jamie and Jill: They all have weird names. Yeah,
Rachel: Anyways, you start thinking am I behaving like this? Do I need this? [crosstalk 00:26:03]. You’re feeling perfectly fine, but you hear these commercials and they list 37 different symptoms, and you might have one or two. Then you’re like, “Oh, my gosh.”
Joel: Chances are you probably have more than five or six of them. Not all the time, but it’s like do you ever-
Rachel: That’s just what being a human is.
Joel: Yeah. It’s like, do you ever feel depressed? Do you ever want to stay at home? Do you ever want to …
Rachel: Right, all the time.
Joel: It’s like, yeah, who doesn’t feel that way sometimes?
Rachel: I guess they’re trying to just make you think that if you’re not joyfully skipping down the road every day, then something might be wrong with you.
Joel: Right.
Rachel: Who is really like that?
Jamie and Jill: Because they’re coming up with new medications all the time, or they’re just resurfacing old medications and rebranding them, and then making you feel like no matter how you are, you need a medication. If you’re not on medication, then somehow you’re messed up.
Rachel: Right, and I feel like now I just keep seeing everyone talking about all the different illnesses they have in all. I’m not saying they’re making it up, but I just feel like I keep seeing it a lot more now.
Jamie and Jill: It’s like everybody has something.
Rachel: I think 99% of the population right now has anxiety, it seems like.
Jamie and Jill: Yeah, mental illness is so huge now.
Rachel: Isn’t that just part of being-
Jamie and Jill: God, now I don’t have it so I’m not in the crowd.
Joel: No, I will say this, I think to some degree every single person has anxiety to a degree.
Rachel: You can list all these things and agree that you feel this way, but if you didn’t then you’d be like a robot.
Joel: Right.
Rachel: Again, the Frankenstein.
Joel: I mean you just wouldn’t have natural feelings.
Rachel: Right.
Joel: Or process things.
Rachel: But now it’s just people’s identity now, it seems like. It’s like I have-
Joel: Especially the younger kids. It’d be interesting to take all the kids in a high school and pull all their medicine together.
Rachel: Well, do you remember when we were kids? The big-
Joel: ADHD?
Rachel: Yes. The thing was-
Jamie and Jill: Or asthma.
Rachel: Diagnosing kids with ADD and you would hear all of our parents saying stuff like, what’s that? I’ve never heard of that. This is made up. That’s just how kids are. And then now you start to wonder that again. It’s circling back around. All these kids at our age are now grown up, that were on those medicines are like, “What were my parents doing to me? I was just being a kid.” Right?
Jamie and Jill: Because none of the kids really liked being on that medication.
Rachel: No, but it was a big thing in the ’90s. Your kid’s got ADD. Oh, so does mine, so does every kid. And then now it’s 30 years later and you realize that’s just the way kids are. I don’t know. I don’t want to say stuff to offend people, but it’s going through waves, I feel like.
Joel: Well, but I feel like kids are almost given ADHD medicine like they’re given immunizations today. They’re overmedicated. I mean, I know-
Jamie and Jill: It’s like it’s just part of their personality or something.
Joel: Right. But-
Jamie and Jill: I mean it’s not like you have to medicate anything that you think is wrong.
Joel: I mean, I don’t know that many teenagers or interact with a lot of teenagers, but two or three of them that I know of are on anxiety and ADHD medicine. It’s like you’re a teenager, you have no worries except for heavy stuff.
Rachel: Or it’s like being a teenager is just a time of weird emotions.
Jamie and Jill: When you worry about things anyways. [crosstalk 00:29:44].
Rachel: You worry about everything when you’re a teenager.
Joel: The sky’s always falling.
Jamie and Jill: Yes.
Joel: And the world always ends.
Jamie and Jill: [crosstalk 00:29:50]. I have anxiety and depression. So you can’t … You’re 14, come on.
Rachel: But a lot of kids do have issues.
Jamie and Jill: I’m not saying that they’re all making it up.
Joel: No, but-
Jamie and Jill: [crosstalk 00:30:02]. I Know high school is different.
Joel: But for the most part, no, you have homework and-
Rachel: And social media was not around in our day. [crosstalk 00:00:30:11]. That causes a lot of stuff too.
Joel: That is true.
Rachel: I could see how a lot of kids have a lot to deal with these days, but-
Joel: That’s right.
Jamie and Jill: And I guess bullies are a big deal nowadays.
Joel: They were a big deal in our days.
Rachel: But they weren’t online.
Jamie and Jill: They weren’t online.
Rachel: For everyone to see.
Joel: They were praised in our day.
Jamie and Jill: They were.
Rachel: Bullies had more creative tactics back in the day.
Jamie and Jill: They did.
Rachel: But just typing on their computer or phone.
Joel: That’s right.
Jamie and Jill: They were …
Joel: Well, because to be a bully back in the day, I mean you had to [crosstalk 00:30:46].
Rachel: Really come up with a plan.
Joel: You had to be tough. You couldn’t just-
Rachel: You couldn’t type and delete, type and delete all day.
Jamie and Jill: You couldn’t just use your words. You actually had to call them on the phone and make fund of them on the phone.
Joel: Right.
Jamie and Jill: You had to speak.
Joel: Poor children. What about, I mean again, not to offend anybody, but religion? That’s a big scare tactic way of getting people on board.
Jamie and Jill: I mean the only thing I can really …
Rachel: The billboards.
Joel: Well, that’s what I’m saying.
Jamie and Jill: There’s that one commercial that’s always on in the morning. When groggy and [crosstalk 00:31:26].
Joel: Let’s be honest. I mean they make it sound like you have to fight for your soul.
Rachel: You’re a lost soul.
Joel: Yeah, they’re-
Rachel: Should we clarify that we’re in Missouri, land of billboards?
Jamie and Jill: Yes. We do have a lot of billboards.
Rachel: And we see whole lot of that around here.
Joel: Yes, for sure.
Jamie and Jill: The biggest advertising I see for religion is billboards and then restaurant signs.
Rachel: And the adult stores on 70.
Joel: That’s true.
Jamie and Jill: Yes. Right by the adults stores. Billboards right by cash-ins.
Rachel: They go back and forth between religion and adult.
Joel: Yes. Yes. Save your soul.
Jamie and Jill: Yes. Save your soul, you’re going to hell.
Joel: But we got private rooms.
Jamie and Jill: Well, okay, going back to high school, this made me think of something else. The fear tactics, we didn’t see this a lot in high school, was the anti-smoking campaigns, and they are really big now.
Joel: But that’s one of the positive ones.
Jamie and Jill: Yes.
Joel: For everybody.
Rachel: I do remember the drug commercials. [crosstalk 00:32:31].
Jamie and Jill: The classic ones, yes.
Rachel: Remember the meth one?
Joel: No, because I don’t feel like meth was big when we were in high school.
Jamie and Jill: No.
Rachel: I still remember how the song went. I won’t sing it, but there was a meth one with a song.
Jamie and Jill: There was?
Rachel: Yeah.
Joel: I don’t remember the meth.
Rachel: It was this girl obsessively cleaning and scratching her arms, and she was really skinny and it had this-
Jamie and Jill: I remember that.
Rachel: It had this jazzy little tune with it, but it was showing this horrible girl just losing her mind.
Joel: Well-
Rachel: It must’ve worked on me.
Joel: Well, motorcycle helmet ads were big and they still are.
Rachel: But now it’s the law. I don’t know if it was the law back then.
Joel: I don’t think it was. But now instead of the drug commercials-
Rachel: Or seatbelts.
Joel: Yeah, seatbelts. The clicker ticket.
Rachel: The no texting. But these are all safety concerns.
Jamie and Jill: Those are good.
Joel: Yeah, those are good. But now instead of the drug ads, they have Tide Pod ads. Don’t eat Tide Pods.
Jamie and Jill: I have not seen a Tide Pod ad.
Joel: Tide actually came out with one.
Jamie and Jill: They did?
Joel: I think it was online though. It was online. [crosstalk 00:33:34]. It’s like, hey, don’t be an idiot and eat a Tide Pod. You know it’s soap. That’s pretty dumb.
Jamie and Jill: There’s some PR pretty morbid and grotesque anti-smoking ads.
Rachel: With the voice boxes. [crosstalk 00:33:57].
Jamie and Jill: They’re really trying to scare kids.
Rachel: Have you seen the one with the lady and then it’s like, this was filmed in October. As of January, she’s dead.
Jamie and Jill: She’s dead, or they show her all made up and then they show her, she takes out her tea, she takes off her makeup, and then she’s bald.
Rachel: Those are pretty effective, I would say.
Jamie and Jill: It freaks me out. I got to change the channel, I don’t watch that.
Rachel: I might record those to show my kids when they get older, freak them out.
Joel: That’s right. And tell them one cigarette, this is what happens.
Rachel: This is it.
Joel: This is it.
Jamie and Jill: You smoke one cigarette, this is going to happen to you.
Joel: You lose your teeth, you lose your voice. You got to get a tracheostomy.
Jamie and Jill: Vocal cords.
Joel: You start talking like this.
Rachel: Right. That’s pretty scary if you ask me.
Joel: It is.
Jamie and Jill: Those are effective.
Rachel: I’m scared of it and I’m not a kid.
Joel: That’s right. Seriously, I mean those work even on me. I’m an adult. I change the channel because it’s just like, I know this doesn’t apply to me so I don’t have to watch it.
Rachel: Right.
Joel: I am not a smoker so I don’t have to worry about it.
Rachel: They did their job.
Joel: I think the biggest culprit in all of this is the news media.
Jamie and Jill: Yes.
Joel: I mean-
Jamie and Jill: Oh, my God, the world is coming to an end.
Joel: If you just sit there, and I’m not talking about your local check the weather, check the sports kind of thing. I’m talking the CNNs and the Fox News and all that where you could sit there and just … I mean it depresses you.
Jamie and Jill: I don’t even watch very much, but I just … Because it’s depressing.
Joel: And that makes me want to buy life insurance and invest all this money into gold bars and stuff that really means nothing. It is crazy.
Jamie and Jill: Yeah, I agree. It’s depressing and it does, it makes you want to just … I have to switch.
Joel: Which is funny because we were teenagers when all that really happened, when the 24 hour news channels really became big. I mean there was CNN. CNN’s been around since we were kids, but I think MSNBC, Fox News and all that launched in the late ’90s.
Jamie and Jill: I thought CNN came out in the ’70s.
Rachel: I think it did.
Joel: It might’ve. Well, a little bit before we were kids. But I’m they were the first and then the rest of them came. And then after 911 that’s when it really grew and became big.
Jamie and Jill: Is there one network that refuses to report any happy stories?
Joel: Fox News.
Jamie and Jill: Maybe it’s all of them.
Joel: No, I think if you want happy stories, feel good stories, you got to go to your local stuff.
Jamie and Jill: Even they barely report anything happy.
Rachel: Just watch The Today Show or the morning shows.
Joel: The Today Show’s not even news though.
Rachel: I know that that’s the only place where we can watch something that’s upbeat. Some of the local stuff is too I guess, but …
Joel: Well, The Today Show picks up on a lot of the local stuff.
Jamie and Jill: Because it’s just …
Joel: All right. Well, any other crazy scare tactics?
Rachel: No.
Joel: Nope?
Jamie and Jill: Well, what-
Rachel: Think I’m scared enough right now.
Jamie and Jill: Well, I guess we covered this, scaring people. They need to join their club, but we covered that.
Joel: What do you mean club?
Jamie and Jill: Joining, become a VIP.
Rachel: Oh, for rewards programs and stuff like that.
Jamie and Jill: Yeah. You want to get in the club.
Joel: We’re going to stop accepting your money.
Rachel: You’re losing money if you don’t join. Losing money’s another one too.
Joel: That’s true, losing money. That is a big one. Or the credit card refinance, that kind of stuff.
Jamie and Jill: Yeah, you’re leaving money on the table. Save money.
Joel: Definitely. Is the door opening?
Rachel: No.
Joel: Keep hearing things.
Rachel: I keep hearing things too.
Joel: Sorry. It’s the ghost. It’s the office ghost.
Rachel: It’s Halloween time.
Joel: It is Halloween. All right. Well, on that note, we’ll bring in the creepy music again.
Jamie and Jill: Don’t fall for these scare tactics. Well, I guess they worked so …
Rachel: Happy Halloween, everybody.
Joel: Yes. All right, Rachel, you got any parting words?
Rachel: It sounds like a jungle in a hunted house combined.
Joel: Well, they’re walking up the steps and they’re about to die.
Rachel: [crosstalk 00:38:33]. And on that note …
Joel: All right. We’ll be right back with, can’t let it go.