Pester Power

"But I need it - all my friends have one!"

Welcome to what was discovered in the late 1940s, tapped into in the 50s and harnassed to the present day.

P is for pester power - one of the most profitable advertizing strategies ever exploited. A victory for pre-science: Who needs scientific studies and surveys when there's such a consistent predictor of need-driven (read:hungry) appetites in action.

Products are already created (promotion-style) before movies get released, lines already formed before stores open and parents fed up even before breakfast. "If we bait it, they will bite" is the prescient motto of fishermen and ad agencies that use minnows to catch bigger fish.

It's probably no accident that more and more commercials feature infants and puppies. Both are what are sometimes referred to as scavengers; that do not stop looking/searching, trying/tasting and pleading/begging for food and fun. The reason, I'm told, is that scavengers think/fear that every occasion will be the last feeding or frollicking opportunity. Regardless, infants and puppies scream/bark pester power.

"Oh, but I only use coupons, so I save money on my purchases."

Spending money to save money is a non sequitur especially when only necessary to meet an expiration date. And when was the last time you went to buy only items for which you had a coupon and came home with so much more (savings?)

But please let me know when/if there's ever a coupon for truffles; and I don't mean chocolate, either.

Pester power is even, or especially, a condition of instant messaging which puts me on the spot to respond/answer instantly. I can't wait till my cell phone, or the industry behind it, starts calling me to tell me that I need something because all my friends have one. That's when somebody's going to get a new playtoy or chew bone.