Chapters 5-7
Pardoner’s strategy of selling popal indulgences reminds me current marketing strategies.
Whenever place Lazaro’s fifth master, pardoner, arrives, he bribes the local priest for their help to gather as more people as possible for his preaches. In these preaches, he sells popal indulgences. From my point of view, businesses are doing the similar act when they are paying the mass media to broadcast their products or services to the mass, so people will buy them. One of the most essential goals of advertising is to reach as more people as possible. Pardoner knew the importance of a mass and paid local priests to bring more people to his preaches, so he could sell more of his product.
Pardoner also sell popal indulgences by playing a trick with constable on the mass. Constable accuses pardoner to be a fraud. While constable accuses him, he falls to the ground howling, with his mouth foaming. And only after an indulgence is placed on his head and pardoner’s prayers, he recovers his senses. After this trick, people start believing that indulgences are holy and start buying them. Nowadays, advertising companies play the similar tricks on us whenever they are advertising some kind of products or services. For example, toothpaste company advertise its new toothpaste. How does the ad of toothpaste usually go?! Someone brushes his or her teeth. And after the first brush, his or her teeth becomes white as never before. It can not be true in reality because our teeth will never become whiter after one brush with any kind of toothpaste. Even though people are well informed that the ads are not always necessarily true, but they still spend their money based on them.
Lazaro dressed up and finds some friends.
It is interesting how Lazaro finds friends right after he earns some money and “respectably” dresses up. In chapter six, Lazaro earns enough money to buy respectable second hand clothes which he never had before. (p112) In the very next chapter, he finds another job, “with the help which I got from friends…” he says. (p113-114) It is unusual because before the chapter seven, Lazaro did not mention anything about his friends. I assumed because he did not have any before. However, it changes in the chapter following by six where he earns some money and “respectably” dresses up.
Questions
Do you think advertising is another type of trick or not? Why or why not?
What do you think the total percentage of our spending due to out needs? What do you think the total percentage of our spending due to advertisement?
What role does money play in friendships?