Hype on the Newsstand

You can’t judge a book by its cover, the old saying goes; this could be a motto for the dimension of perspective.  External appearances should count for less than the true quality found within, whether it be a book, a person or a product.

Apparently this saying is not only old, but is becoming obsolete.  Just Google “appearance discrimination” and you will learn about how better looking people are more likely to get a job, tend to be paid more, and even get lighter sentences in court.  When people review the same book or article accompanied by false pictures of the author, one more attractive than the other, the picture alone sways their opinion of how interesting and well written it is.

This type of error, judging on appearances, is not new.  Surely it’s partly genetic and has been around forever.  The problem is that the lure of a pretty face, fancy packaging or slick advertising often leaves us with a product we don’t need and a feeling of regret along with the resultant consequences of another poor decision.  To compound the problem, artists and advertisers have found that shocking or controversial images arouse our curiosity in a similar way. 

This issue comes to mind this week as Time and Newsweek seem to be engaged in a contest over which can have the most controversial or outrageous cover.  Regardless of the actual cover designs or messages, what does this tell us about our society?  Have we become so numb to the ordinary hype and overall noise in our lives that it’s necessary to continually up the ante?  This is not an isolated example.  So many marketers and media outlets, not just magazines, overwhelm us with warnings, outrageous claims and overall edginess just to get us to tune them in and prefer their product over others. Where does it all end?

It ends when we start exercising more perspective, looking for the substance and real value, not being drawn in by the hype, the outrageous, the superficial or by the controversial just for the sake of controversy.