“This is a measure of a willingness to persuade others to take the COVID-19 vaccine.”
Or, as we would rephrase it, “this is an extension of the Milgram Experiment, and we’re using it to manipulate your opinion.”
This is how they do it, folks. You’re going to want to sit down and read this more than once.
There’s actually an ongoing clinical trial comparing how people react when they’re given specific “messaging” at the same time they’re given a sales pitch for a COVID-19 vaccine.
Let’s read that again with some added emphasis: There’s actually an ongoing clinical trial comparing how people react when they’re given specific messaging AT THE SAME TIME THEY’RE GIVEN a sales pitch for a COVID-19 vaccine.
The really chilling part is, it goes much further than simply figuring out how to convince someone to buy a product.
They’re trying to figure out how many are willing to sell their product for them. We know this because they said so: “This is a measure of a willingness to persuade others to take the COVID-19 vaccine.” (See screenshot, which comes from the page you get by clicking on “tabular view.” It’s sponsored by Yale University –link at bottom of page.)
Here’s how they’re doing it:
They’ve divided their study subjects into 12 groups. To make this post easier to understand, we’ve added numbers to their groups, 1 -12.
All groups are given the message that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective.**********************************
Group 1 gets nothing but that message. 3/15 of the study subjects are in this group.
The rest of the groups get that message PLUS 1 additional message, to see how that affects the mindset of the study subjects.
Think this is creepy? Oh, just wait. Read on:********************************
Group 2 also gets a “sham comparator” message, about costs and benefits of bird feeding, so obviously they don’t expect this to affect the mindset of their subjects. — it’s a control group. 2/15 of the study subjects are in this group.
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Here’s where it becomes disturbingly manipulative. We quote the descriptions from the study:
Group 3 (“Personal Freedom”) also gets a message about “how COVID-19 is limiting people’s personal freedom and by working together to get enough people vaccinated society can preserve its personal freedom.” 1/15 of the study subjects are in this group.
** We call this the “Let’s Pretend the Virus, Rather Than The Government, Is Limiting Personal Freedom” group.********************************
Group 4 (“Economic Freedom”) also gets a message about “how COVID-19 is limiting peoples’s economic freedom and by working together to get enough people vaccinated society can preserve its economic freedom.” (Yep, appeal to people’s pocketbooks, great way to manipulate…) 1/15 of the study subjects are in this group. ** We call this the “Let’s Pretend Being Forced to Buy A Product You Don’t Want From the Multi-Multi-Billion-Dollar Vaccine Industry Equals ‘Economic Freedom’ ” group.
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Group 5 (“Self-Interest”) also gets a message that “COVID-19 presents a real danger to one’s health, even if one is young and healthy. Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is the best way to prevent oneself from getting sick.” 1/15 of the study subjects are in this group. ** We call this the “Let’s Pretend the Vaccine Is Every Bit As Safe And Effective As They Say Even Though There is Already Troubling Evidence to the Contrary” group
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Group 6 (“Community Interest”) also gets a message about “the dangers of COVID-19 to the health of loved ones. The more people who get vaccinated against COVID-19, the lower the risk that one’s loved ones will get sick. Society must work together and all get vaccinated.” 1/15 of the study subjects are in this group. ** We call this the “Everyone Must Buy This Product Immediately” group.
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Group 7 (“Economic Benefit”) also gets a message about “how COVID-19 is wreaking havoc on the economy and the only way to strengthen the economy is to work together to get enough people vaccinated.” 1/15 of the study subjects are in this group. ** We call this the “Let’s Pretend Being Forced to Buy A Product You Don’t Want From the Multi-Multi-Billion-Dollar Vaccine Industry Solves The Economic Crisis Caused By The Shut-Down” group.
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(The next 3 groups get messages labeled by the study as “social pressure.” Think about that.)
Group 8 “Guilt” also gets a message about “the danger that COVID-19 presents to the health of one’s family and community. The best way to protect them is by getting vaccinated and society must work together to get enough people vaccinated. Then it asks the participant to imagine the guilt they will feel if they don’t get vaccinated and spread the disease.” 1/15 of the study subjects are in this group.
** We call this the “Let’s Guilt-Trip Anyone Who Doesn’t Buy Our Product” group.*********************************
Group 9 (“Embarrassment”) also gets a message about “the danger that COVID-19 presents to the health of one’s family and community. The best way to protect them is by getting vaccinated and by working together to make sure that enough people get vaccinated. Then it asks the participant to imagine the embarrassment they will feel if they don’t get vaccinated and spread the disease.” 1/15 of the study subjects are in this group. ** We call this the “Let’s Condition People Into Being Embarrassed For Not Buying Our Product” group. While we’d like to think it would only work on 7th graders, we see how very effective it is.
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Group 10 (“Anger”) also gets a message about “the danger that COVID-19 presents to the health of one’s family and community. The best way to protect them is by getting vaccinated and by working together to make sure that enough people get vaccinated. Then it asks the participant to imagine the anger they will feel if they don’t get vaccinated and spread the disease.” 1/15 of the study subjects are in this group. ** Wow. We can see that this is actually geared towards making people angry at OTHERS, not at themselves, in spite of the wording. How clever of them. We call this the “Let’s Antagonize People Against Each Other For Not Buying Our Product” group.
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Group 11 (“Trust In Science”) also gets a message about “how getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is the most effective way of protecting one’s community. Vaccination is backed by science. If one doesn’t get vaccinated that means that one doesn’t understand how infections are spread or who ignores science.” 1/15 of the study subjects are in this group. ** We call this the “Gaslighting” group. It’s gaslighting people into thinking that, if they use their critical thinking skills to turn down a product, it must be because there’s something wrong with them.
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Group 12 (“Bravery”) also gets a message describing “how firefighters, doctors, and front line medical workers are brave. Those who choose not to get vaccinated against COVID-19 are not brave.” 1/5 of the study subjects are in this group. We call this the “Let’s Capitalize on People’s Feelings of Inadequacy If They Choose Not To Buy Our Product, and Call Them Cowards To Make Them Change Their Minds” group.
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Now, we don’t mind at all that an industry wants to market a product.
That’s how capitalism works.
But in this case, we care very much that the industry has co-opted our legislators, our scientists, our doctors, and even our universities, pushing them to figure out how to coerce us into agreeing to be part of their experiment.
What’s shocking is that many actually already believe the study’s messaging, EVEN THOUGH IT’S NOT SUPPORTED BY EVEN THE MANUFACTURER’S OWN DATA.
Such is the power of MARKETING, which can make a seemingly-reasonable-but-seriously-flawed product seem like holy water, and turn well-meaning, justifiably concerned citizens into a fundamentalist conversion army — an army who runs university-sponsored studies on how to convert us all.
Link to the clinical trial information: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/study/NCT04460703
