Post #4042376

2026-07-23 17:43 UTC

#Marketing is a form of magical practice, therefore. The marketer wishes to cast a spell on their victims: the ideal marketing campaign is condensed into a single powerful catchphrase or slogan or jingle, one which elicits a magical transformation in those who hear it. Thus the abbreviation in marketing has the weight of a magic spell, a sequence of letters so powerful that it makes people do things. I still remember from a lot of Jack Benny radio programs that Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco. LSMFT. In the wartime ads this was accentuated with the sound of a Morse code repeater tapping out LSMFT. I actually smoked Lucky Strikes for a bit. Strong stuff, this marketing. (cont'd)

Replies (1)

@mxchara@seattle.pink 2026-07-23 17:52

Hence the sphere of #markets and #blockchain scams and so forth is absolutely lousy with purportedly powerful abbreviations, short sequences of letters intended to symbolize instant riches: stock-ticker symbols like $GME and $SPCX (not so valuable these days) and $TSLA (same) abbreviated names of businesses and organizations and government bodies abbreviations standing in for social greetings such as "GM" and "GN" (good morning, good night) abbreviations of procedures that supposedly guarantee one's riches e.g. the "direct registration system" or DRS which meme-stock gamblers imagine to be a guarantee that their GME paper will be honored and redeemed even if its value gets inflated to ridiculous numbers. (cont'd)

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