special feature
Memetic Marketing:
Can marketing exploit the power of evolution
4-28-04 / West Keansburg, NJ
MCP Editorial staff uncovered the following, rather rude and somewhat scathing, article concerning our marketing practices. As is best in these uncomfortable situations, the best response appears to be no response at all.
The Dangers of Memetic Marketing
“To be the subject of an anti-trust suit. There is no better way of knowing that you have truly succeeded.”
Self Appointed President Geoffrey Ciani
Mushroom Cloud Productions Mission Statement
2-25-04, Citizens Against Ridiculous Experiments (CARE)—We regret to inform you that recent activities undertaken by Mushroom Cloud Productions (MCP) has prompted CARE to launch a full scale investigation into their marketing practices. Changes to their website (www.eatthemushroom.com) posted on February 20, 2004, reveal disturbing clues to a fiendish plot that could potentially affect consumers and web-users the world over.
With the final version of the film Edgar Allan Poe's Berenice scheduled for DVD production next week, we believe MCP plans to unleash the replicative power of memes to infect large numbers of the population with the Berenice thought-virus. By supplementing their website with sections totally unrelated to the film itself, including “Submissions” and “Affiliates,” it is clear MCP is hoping to take unfair advantage of the infective properties of harmful biological agents to enhance their marketing efforts.
MCP has learned Berenice could be spread largely through the innocent efforts of others. Similar to the transmission methods of ordinary parasites, Berenice would then be able to infect users who are potentially unaware of their exposure or the risk of further exposing the population.
The following is a hypothetical example of how such an insidious plot might unfold:
- A hapless individual submits materials for posting on the main MCP website.
- Exposure to the site causes the individual in question to become a carrier of the thought virus.
- The individual then spreads the infection by encouraging others to visit the site.
- Repeat steps 1-3 ad infinitum.
Please note the exponential progression inherent in such methods. One user may infect two, and two, four, four, sixteen, and so on and so forth leading to a rapid and uncontrollable growth rate. Should they succeed, CARE believes that world-wide cases of Berenice could reach epidemic proportions.
Do not underestimate the grave nature of this threat. So complete is their corruption, that even advance versions of the film's conceptual artwork obtained exclusively by CARE [Click here to view ], reflect the dark, disturbing nature of their vision.
These images clearly show how MCP has sublimated prominent features of the human face and hence humanity itself to focus exclusively on the mouth—the main avenue by which infective and biological agents are spread, be they thought-based or otherwise. At CARE, we refuse to believe such correlations are mere coincidences.
CARE was originally alerted to the threat from an undisclosed source who informed us that founding member Christian Twiste was engaging in an intensive study of the more dubious aspects of memetics. Memetics is the new science of thought and cultural evolution coined by eminent evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in 1976.
While memetics has yet to enjoy a firm footing in many scientific circles, evidence of a powerful replicator underlying our thought processes, actions, and culture is becoming more and more obvious with each new study. Cultural anthropologist Robert Aunger believes memes are self replicating states in the brain. Once infected, a person's thoughts may be over-run by the widespread and extremely fast replication of these destructive, consuming electrical entities.
Examples from everyday life include that horrible, annoying song you just can't get out of your head, or the urban legend told time and time again despite not having a grain of truth. Some go so far as to believe that language and our sense-of-self is based exclusively on memetic evolution, but those claims have not been verified by independent study.
Needless to say, we at CARE care greatly about stopping this foul plan before it has a chance of reaching epidemic proportions. Please assist us in our efforts by forwarding this e-mail to friends and relatives in immediate advance of the film's release; encourage those friends and relatives to forward even further. We believe advance knowledge of the MCP plan is the only available vaccination for the Berenice-virus.
We thank you in advance for your assistance in this matter. The fate of the world maybe in your hands and we ask you to do your duty for both God and country.
Sincerely,
Citizens Against Ridiculous Experiments
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