Seven deadly sins and marketing

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: The new list of sins issued by the Vatican has drawn diverse reactions from different quarters. “People don’t sin any more.” “They celebrate it”. Consumerism and the galloping globalisation are dishing out heady cocktails of deadly sins—luxuria (lust), gula (gluttony), avarita (greed), invidia (envy), superbia (pride) and so on to the consumers all around to drink them to the dregs.

In the Garden of Eden, Mr and Mrs Adam were the original consumers-cum-sinners and were punished by the God but their successors did not take any learning from that. As more choices were given to them, the more sins they piled on. Accent was on excess. Ye dil maange more. Act of consumption was taken to the level of perversion. Our drinking of fruit juice is not complete till others are deprived of the pulp. We have already made solemn proclamations that we would not share our biscuit or chocolate even with our better half. We are not afraid of hell, immersed as we are in consumption that we don’t have time to visit that place. The 60-year-old brand ambassador of a chocolate gets into the body of a girl to consume some meetha. Ye to too much ho gaya. Angels turned uneasy in heaven and it was time for a divine intervention.

In came a fresh list of seven more sins. Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, the Vatican body that oversees confession and plenary indulgences, said priests must take account of new sins which have appeared on the horizon of humanity as a corollary to the unstoppable process of globalisation. This time the divine keeper of conscience has become more marketing savvy. One realisation has sunk in—don’t expect consumers to get into course correction mode. They are far too smart and innovative. If they smell self interest they can turn any concept on its head. Look what they have done to the original list of sins defined by Pope Gregory. They have hired marketing gurus who have thoughtfully packaged and capsuled them in the curriculum of business schools. Open the chapters of positioning and consumer behaviour you will find them as great consumer motivations!

Today we live in a society that defines our relationship and actions primarily through a matrix of consumption. The problem is not in consumption itself but rather in living to consume. The cars we drive the clothes we wear, the mobile phone through which we communicate... all define who we are. Our shirts have never been so honest nor our soft drinks more clear. Our cup of tea in the morning does not just wake us up, it brings about an awakening. We are what we consume and shopping has started to occupy a role in the society that once belonged to the religious power to give meaning and identity.

The new list of sins should be understood in this context. Here goes the list: environmental pollution, genetic manipulation, accumulating excessive wealth, causing poverty, drug trafficking and consumption, morally debatable experiments and violation of fundamental rights of human nature. Apparently it looks like they are more focused on the societal and governmental issues and somewhere down the line lets the individual off the hook of accountability. I mean one can work on one’s pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed and sloth but cannot really help these new modern sins. Personal morality is substituted by a collective sense of wellbeing and in doing so mirroring changes that are taking place in other aspects of life.

The centre of gravity of the value system has shifted. Be it in politics, marketing or for that matter in technology the evaluation parameters have started changing. How good is your technology can only be evaluated once we get the answer how green it is. Brand bishops and marketing gurus are already working on new marketing strategies which are opposite to what was being practiced so far. Competitors are not enemies they are partners. Power lies not in hoarding but in delegating and empowering the powerless. It is possible for a page three and ordinary man to run on the same marathon of success and win together. Hell is not a purgatory in isolation nor is heaven a reward zone in the second life. Both can be created here and now.

As the technology blurs the boundary of virtual and real it is bringing more dimensions to the concept of sin. Where does sin sit? In action or in imagination? In real or in virtual? How does one protect oneself when what is virtual starts meddling with the real? Who would have thought an innocent mind playing “bloodbath” in computer games was actually harboring and nurturing a criminal inside himself. When a small fight in school resulted in ghastly shoot-outs and murder of classmates the issue had already gone out of hand. Who is the sinner? The parents who have made available the game or the gaming company which created the thrill of killing or the law enforcing authorities who sanctioned selling of such games to children?

Marketers and communicators have started realising and living up to this new responsibility. Otherwise why should Surf suddenly start glorifying daag? Why is saving two buckets of water important in the context of washing? Why after so many years of playing the tune of tandrusti, Lifebuoy starts talking cleanliness for the community? Why negative brand icons are preaching positive mental attitudes? The Devil has started advocating truth—sach ke siwah kuchh nahi bolunga; envy is passé, individuality is in. The momentum of consumption will continue to increase but the mindframe around it can still be changed. From this point of view the new list of sins is like a new set of red alerts. Flout them at your own peril, to the peril of the society and to the civilisation at large. “Those who appreciate quality should enjoy it responsibly”. Amen.