Manipulation via Guilt

A marketing tactic I'm seeing more and more involves the line of thinking:

"I want to make you do something you don't really want to do.  How do I guilt-trip you into doing it?"

If you spend any time on Facebook, you have seen example after example of these tactics being employed on your timeline:

I don't know why people make these.  Is it because you want 100,000 people liking and sharing something you made?  Most of them look like they're done by 12 year-olds, and almost always contain some sort of spelling/grammar issue...

Here, I'll do one...

OMG!  I only have 6,000 people sharing this!  There are SOOO MANY people out there that just don't like sex!!  What's wrong with you billions of people out there that don't like sex???

...can you tell these piss me off?

The Facebook 'like me' messages are nothing compared to the ASPCA commercials that have been running for the last 6 months or so.

In those commercials, you see sad animal after sad animal, and the narrator is begging for you to help them.  If you don't help an animal in need, you're a horrible human being.

So says Sarah McLachlan, the authority on righteousness in Northern America these days... you need her approval if you want to call yourself a good person.

What bothers me most are the animals.  I have 2 shelter pets, and I know they don't all look like sad, pitiful animals.  I can see a director going down the line in a shelter...

"Nah, this one doesn't look pitiful enough.  Go ahead and gas this one..."

"This one is close... maybe break it's leg and see if it will whimper then??"

"Oooh, this one is PERFECT!!  Get the cameras ready, boys!"

Yes, it's cruel... but to get so many animals looking so heartbroken, they probably had to actually break a few hearts first.  It's all for the greater good though, so it's ok... right?  Sarah?  Back me up here...

To all the people using this marketing tactic, I have some bad news for you:

I've built up a resistance to guilt-based manipulation.  I have my ex wife to thank for that.  To this day she still tries, but I'm more or less immune to it.

...think iocane powder in the Princess Bride... it may still seep in and poison you, but I can take it...

And, of course, please like and share this post with others!  If you don't, the terrorists will win, and Sarah McLachlan will kill you in your sleep!