4. Nike, L’Oreal and Me

“Just do it!” Why? “Because I am worth it.” “Total indulgence. Zero guilt.” Modern advertising and conscience.

Modern advertising is saturated with humanistic sloganeering. Like Nike, “Just do it!” What does that mean, “Just do it!”? It implies there is some conscience you have, some self-restraint, an internal process you go through before you decide to do something. They’re saying, “Don’t listen to it, don’t think about it, just do it!” So, Nike makes that proposal, who gives the answer? L’Oreal, “Because I’m worth it”. But of all the ads I ever saw, the most blatant, naked assertion of humanistic sloganeering was from a company whose slogan was, “Total indulgence. Zero guilt.” No conscience, just indulge without conscience. Who does things without conscience? Generally, they’re called animals…