The Psychology of Advertising

I don’t know why I’m posting this on Vets for Trump, but this subject bothers me and I need an outlet. Ignore it if you want to because it has little to nothing to do with politics or veterans specifically. It does have a bit to do with one of my recurring themes on psychological operations and propaganda. That is what advertising is to a larger extent. This is just my opinion, but you will decide if my analysis is correct.

If you watch TV you likely see gold and or silver advertisements up the wazoo. I rarely watch live TV, but still see some commercials as I fast forward. Gold & silver commercials drive me nuts because of the over-the-top language used. Good old William Duvane says “Gold is a hedge against inflation….”. According to Forbes and other resources there is no hedge against inflation, not stocks, bonds or precious metals. However, certain investments do better than others but gold and silver are at the bottom.

I know many out there like to invest in something they can hold in their hands even if it doesn’t make them much money. If that is the case, then metal is for you. This repetition is a perfect example of how the psychology of advertising & propaganda works for some people. If you are interested in making money over time you might want to look closer. Knowing these advertisments were bunk I turned to Google Gemini (formerly Bard) AI to get the exact answers. I did the calculations based on a $100 investment but did not calculate for inflation. However, if you click the See Details links you can see answers taking inflation into account.

A $100 investment in the S&P 500 in 1980 would be worth around $8,900 today (February 14, 2024) without accounting for inflation. See details

A $100 investment in gold in 1980: Considering you could buy 0.1176 ounces of gold with $100 in 1980, it would be worth:

0.1176 ounces * $1,880/ounce = $220.45See details

In 1980, the price of silver was around $48.30 per ounce. Today (February 14, 2024), it’s roughly $23.00 per ounce. Considering you could buy 0.00207 ounces of silver with $100 in 1980, it would be worth:

0.00207 ounces * $23.00/ounce = $0.47See details

Here is a link to a nifty graph that you can adjust to the years you want to see for DOW, S&P, Gold & Silver. . If you are on the website and not reading this in your email the “Featrued Image” is a graphic of Gold vs S&P. Sometimes a picture speaks a thousand words

I know there are those who think gold or silver will be of great value if the world colapses. As a former combat survival instructor and fan of The Walking Dead I can affirm that gold and silver will have little to no value. What will have value is based on need. Water, food and shelter or things that will help you procure those items have value in dire circumstances. Maybe after many years when society starts to rebuild gold and silver will have value again.

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