Priming: The heart of advertising

     Priming is the last media impact theory I will be discussing for this assignment. The theory is that one thought can trigger other thoughts, which if used properly, can make a person react in a anticipated or even desired manner. This is often seen in the context of violence, how if someone watches enough violent content that has a consistent action (such as a guy punches another guy for giving him a dirty look) that they will repeat it if put into the scenario (a person gives them a dirty look). Priming is used in other ways than just the incidence of violence. For example, one article I found states how news can mention certain events (like 9/11 when discussing war or Casey Anthony when discussing missing children) to move people to the desired mindset about it. I found this particularly interesting because for some reason it had never really occurred to me that they do it. It would be logical if you want to paint the parents of a missing child in a light of suspicion to mention a prominent case where a parent was a suspect.
     However, I think priming is more commonly used with advertising. This can be as simple as presenting your product in a way to try and evoke a certain emotion whenever someone thinks of it (like this Coke ad):

*On a side note I thought this one was really creative in using a close-up of part of the logo to make the smiley face.*
     To setting up a standard for how someone should act. A classic example of this would be the diamond ads that used to air.

     De Beers advertising has made it so men automatically think of a diamond ring when they consider proposing. Even if they are not thinking of buying a new ring but passing down a family heirloom De Beers is actually responsible for that as well (the "Diamond is Forever" slogan was created to encourage sentimentalism and deter people from selling diamonds, which increased their value).
     I'm going to end it here due to my last example I had wanted to present was about Rush Limbaugh was saying the Dark Knight Rises was a ploy to prime people to paint Romney as a villain, You can read about that here if you like, but as I sit here this morning and wait to hear what the motive was behind the Aurora shooting just makes me want to hold off on really going into it. I realize there will be huge discussions on why he did it when we find out, and priming may play a role in it. However, I hope it is done in a way to grant the people lost and the ones left behind some peace and respect. So to end this, I am just going to say my thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Colorado.