In his hilarious talk at TED, Rory Sutherland reminds us of the fundamental activity in marketing: creating value.  And by ‘creating value’, we mean creating perceptions – perceptions that will determine a worldview.  Before I go on, have a look:

“TED Evil”… Quite humorous, isn’t he? Yet most of his jokes are not only attention grabbers, they also fairly acknowledge the ‘dark side’ of his topic.  It is true that advertising can be and is often misused to perpetuate an unsustainable economy whilst spoiling our culture and any chances at attaining a satisfying life.  Rory’s take is that the very same mechanisms can be turned around to ‘do some good’.  As often noted upon in the reactions to this talk,  priorities concerning sustainability may be helped along by simply changing our perceptions concerning personal and global welfare.

Admittedly, it remains a double-edged sword.  Wink to South Park (what haven’t they done an episode about?)