Peugot Vs Lexus

This is advertising that fundamentally does not understand the way that communications work because it does not understand how people think.

I am sure that you have all read Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow, sadly whoever made this advert has not.

Kahneman’s work has shown that there are 2 systems for thinking.

‘System 1 operates automatically and quickly, with little or no effort and no sense of voluntary control’

It is how you immediately know that the woman to the right is angry.

‘System 2 allocates attention to the mental activities that demand it, including complex computations. The operations of System 2 are often associated with the subjective experience of agency, choice, and concentration’

Experience System 2 by trying to solve the following: 17 x 24 =

‘System 1 and 2 are both active when we are awake. System 1 runs automatically and System 2 is normally in a comfortable low-effort mode, in which only a fraction of its capacity are engaged’

Since we are using System 1 the vast majority of the time, the vast majority of advertising does not work by attempting to engage System 2 and rationally persuade people into buying something.

This is advertising that has been made for System 2, it assumes that we will choose to pay a lot of attention to it in a concerted and deliberate effort to understand why these product developments have made the car better. It believes that we will then translate that rational belief into an emotional one and associate this car with excitement.

Do me a fucking favour.

If you want me to feel like driving your car feels like wingsuit flying / extreme kayaking etc… do not explain in excruciatingly boring detail how a list of engineering developments have made your product better.

The end line ‘Feel the difference?’ is laughably ironic.

On the other hand here is some advertising that has been made for System 1.

Feel the difference?

Source: Daniel Kahneman, Thinking Fast and Slow, 2011