Molly Zuk
November 25, 2014
Film Annotation – The Persuaders
1. Title, director and release year?
Frontline: The Persuaders was directed by Barak Goodman and Rachel Dretzin and the airdate
was November 9, 2003.
2. What is the central argument or narrative of the film?
The central argument of the film describes the constant bombardment of advertisements on a
daily basis. In addition, the film examines “how the cultures of marketing and advertising have come to
influence not only what Americans buy, but also how they view themselves and the world around
them.”1
3. How is the argument or narrative made and sustained? How much scientific information is
provided, for example? Does the film have emotional appeal?
The argument is sustained through a variety of examples – both in terms of experts in the field
and corporations (such as Song airlines). Not too much scientific information is provided, but the film
displays some concrete evidence in support of their argument in terms of advertisement campaigns. The
film has emotional appeal in the sense that it discusses the ways advertisements strike at your emotions
and how emotions are studied in order to create stronger advertisements.
4. What sustainability problems does the film draw out? Political? Legal? Economic? Technological?
Media and Informational? Organizational? Educational? Behavioral? Cultural? Ecological?
Cultural: The film discusses how much advertising draws from and to the culture of a group of
people. Advertisements are designed to reflect the culture of the intended consumers. The large
quantities of advertisements, on the other hand, can describe the behavior of the American culture as it
highlights our consumerism.
Economic: The film touches on economic side of sustainability problems of the advertising.
Advertising promotes the purchasing of products and services, which pushes the economy forward.
Political: The film briefly touches on this as the regulations around advertising and freedom of
speech must be considered as advertisements are created.
5. What parts of the film did you find most persuasive and compelling? Why?
Specifically, I found the repeated discussion of word choice and the ‘word guru’ very interesting
because it wasn’t something that seems subconscious to me. Words have such a specific connotation in
different contexts and it is very important in advertising to convey the correct meaning without
misconstruing messages along the way.
1
Frontline: The Persuaders. (2004, November 9). Retrieved November 11, 2014, from
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/persuaders/etc/synopsis.html
6. What parts of the film were you not compelled or convinced by? Why?
The parts of the film describing the large database of information gathered from various
marketing was extremely overwhelming and made me debate whether this helps or hurts the case for
marketers. It is crazy to me how easy some of this information is to gather, but as was discussed in the
film, consumers have become to avoid these marketer tactics as an effort to remain anonymous. I think
the over collection of this data may harm the case of the marketers as it may eventually become
misleading when consumers provide incorrect information.
7. What audiences does the film best address? Why?
The film best addresses consumers who are influenced by advertisements on a daily basis. The
film provides a variety of examples to highlight the argument in a simpler manner.
8. What could have been added to this film to enhance its environmental educational value?
I think the film provides educational value in terms of the cultural environment. The film
highlights the culture of advertising and how the people behind the advertisements create them to be
so compelling. I think that it is important for the viewers to understand the environment around the
advertisements they see daily.
9. What kinds of action and points of intervention are suggested by the film? If the film itself does not
suggest corrective action, describe actions that you can imagine being effective.
I don’t feel the film provides many points of intervention. It simply describes the dilemma of
whether advertising and corporations are being influenced by us, or if we are being influenced by them.
10. What additional information has this film compelled you to seek out? (Provide at least two
supporting references)
Additionally, I sought out more information about the making of the film from the Frontline
website.2 This site provided me with information to go back and review the different interviews and
discussion points, in addition to reading what other viewers were saying about the film. In addition, I
also searched to find information in regards to the Song airlines and the resulting ending of the brand.3
It was interesting to me to see how much marketing research went into the development of every inch
of that brand and the disappointing end result.
2
Frontline: The Persuaders. (2004, November 9). Retrieved November 11, 2014, from
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/persuaders/etc/synopsis.html
3
Maynard, M. (2005, October 28). Delta to Discontinue Its Low-Fare Song Airline. Retrieved November 10, 2014.