Madison Avenue is your daddy

I happened to flip through a copy of AgriMarketing (January/February 2005) during lunch the other day. In fulfilling the magazine's mission of "serving agribusiness professionals," it contained an article on the differences between Americans and Canadians that would-be marketers should keep in mind. It reports on the findings of, Michael Adams, the head of a research company called Environics: "Canadians are less religious, less interested in patriarchal authority, more interested in other cultures and more skeptical about government than Americans."

It goes on: "Americans are showing a greater sense of personal alienation from society, more concerns about violence and a greater sense of consumerism. Canadians are showing more interest in environmentalism, social progress and personal interest."

The article continues. "In terms of marketing, Adams also finds some strong differences. He notes that American are more oriented toward consumption and given their greather confidence in institutional authorities,'take greater pleasure in (and trust more) the promises of Madison Avenue.' Canadians are less interested in advertising and are more skeptical about what they are told. 'More than eight in 10 Canadians are skeptical of the claims of advertisors, which may explain why humor, irony and even self-deprication go down better than the hard sell in cynical Canada'..."

And lastly, Canadian farmers are more community oriented and less likely to take advice from authorities such as agri-retailers.

All of this implies some pretty scary stuff about our society. One wonders if folks on Madison Ave feel any unease as they con billions of dollars from gullible American consumers hungry for "patriarchal authority."