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Find out what people want and give it to them!

This is a well known phrase used in marketing and advertising.  It says that you get people to buy your items when you appeal to their natural desires.

What They Sell

Think about it for a minute.  Every commercial you’ve ever seen typically has one driving theme — happiness.

Essentially what the agency is trying to tell you is that you’ll be happier to some degree or another if you have our product – or you’ll be worse off and unhappy if you don’t.

Whether it’s beer, cars, razors, deodorant or the  newest drug on the market, the message is clear.

The next time you watch TV take a deeper look at that message.

What does the company want you to do?  They want you to buy their product of course.

But why?

They are appealing to our natural desire for happiness, comfort and joy.

Why It Matters

There’s a reason why companies will spend several million dollars for a 30-second TV spot during the Super Bowl.  It’s not because they like to spend money.

They do this because there will be some people who go and buy their products or services.  There is a return on investment for the company.

Companies don’t advertise for fun, they want to make a profit.

Don’t get me wrong – there’s nothing wrong with making a profit, but we need to be mindful of how it affects us.

How Does This Affect Us?

TV can be a breeding ground for greed, materialism, covetousness, envy and discontentment.

Advertisers appeal to our natural desire for happiness by getting us to think we need to drive the right kind of car – drink the right kind of beer - shave with the right kind of razor – and use the right kind of prescription drugs.

And when you do all of those things you’ll have better sex, more power and greater joy!

Don’t give in to the temptation of discontentment and envy and think to yourself  - if I only had this thing - then I’d be happy.

Is TV Affecting Your Financial Health?

Do you find yourself buying the latest and greatest things and racking up debt just to keep up with the Joneses or because you think those things will make you happy?

Are you going out and using credit cards for something you know you don’t need, but just feel like you have to have?

The scary thing is that we may not even realize we do this!  It’s such a natural tendency in us that we fail to recognize it.

The next time you watch TV, pay attention to the message and how it affects you.

What To Do About It

Throwing your TV away and resolving to never watch it again will not deal with the root of your envy or discontentment.

So what’s the answer?

1. The first step is to be aware of how you’re affected by TV.

2. Secondly, we need to realize that lasting joy is not found in the newest products and the latest gadgets.

3. Lastly, we need to understand that lasting joy is only found in a loving, personal relationship with Jesus Christ — who gave up everything including his own life — so that for those who believe and follow him, they could have eternal happiness and joy in Him.

Being vigilant while you watch TV will help guard your financial wellbeing and your spiritual health.

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If you haven’t yet, consider staying current with Redeeming Riches by receiving my posts FREE through email or RSS Feeds here.  Also, follow me on Twitter here.

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Guest Post

This week I was able to do a guest post at Suburban Dollar called Navigating Your Finances.  Just like GPS looks at your current location, your destination and your direction, we too need to look at those things from a personal finance stand point. 

Where are we now, where are we going and how do we get there are the big three questions being asked with some practical suggestions on how to answer them. If you haven’t checked it out yet please do.

Friday Finance Round Up

Friday Finance Round Up is a weekly post that includes interesting articles and blog posts on money found during the week from across the web.

In no particular order:

How Healthy Are Your Finances? – CNN Money

This is a very cool financial calculator that walks you through a few questions to give you a grade on your finances.  It’s a great place to start for those who are new to personal finance and also a good place to just “check in” to see how you’re doing.

Obama Health Care Reform and Wait Times Visualization (In Lego!) – Political Math

The guys at Political Math are very creative, insightful and provide good entertainment value.  I posted their video on the National Debt Road Trip a while back also.

Government Redistribution of Wealth: Is It Right? - Christian PF

This post is designed to get you thinking about whether redistribution is right or not.  Bob doesn’t pretend he has all the answers, but tries to look at it and ask how we as Christians should view this.

Use Spending Filters to Save on Just About Everything - Debt Free Adventure

Good post on being vigilant with thinking about your purchases before you go out and spend.  Matt runs through 6 filters he uses to help them save money.

Social Media Update: Quitting Facebook, or Maybe, Quitters Do Win – Owen Strachan

Interesting post looking at the NY Times piece on people quitting Facebook and why it might be a good thing.  Basically what Owen is getting at is can we redeem Social Media and use it for kingdom purposes?  Not a personal finance post, but interesting nonetheless.

This Week’s Links

Blog Carnivals are a way of reaching a larger audience for your blog posts.  You submit your posts to other bloggers who then pick out their favorites and post them in the carnival edition.   One of the requirements of getting picked is a link back to the site that is hosting the carnival.   Here are this week’s linkbacks: 

• How Much Money Do You Need to Retire was picked for the Best of the Financial and Investing World – August Edition held at 20′s Money.
• That post was also picked for the Carnival of Pecuniary Delights #22 held at Canadian Finance Blog