wait wut did they just pretty much admit to brain washing and people are just brushing this off
*facepalm*
Some programs admit to it with a slight tongue in cheek. At Benchmark I mentioned brainwashing once and was told "maybe your brain needs a little washing". Similar things were told almost verbatim to people at other programs. They twist the meaning of the word around to make it sound like a good thing.
I must admit, at first glance I thought it was a parody.
A closer look, however, makes it a bit more sinister for me. The slight tongue in cheek is a way of making the whole concept more palatable to you. "A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down." The subtle jesting tone serves to trivialize what actually goes on in these places ... unless you happen to know better.
A lot of advertising campaigns that deal with controversial products seem to be employing methods similar to this. Note the funky retro "laundry" detergent box. This advertisement ... er, "article" ... is deliberately meant to appeal on several levels in an
ambiguous way.
It doesn't matter whether you get the point they want you to get, or whether you even agree with them entirely. What matters is that you've dwelt on the issue for a period of time (by reading the "article"), and that you have vague associations with it stored in your memory,
some of which are positive.
