User:BFogarty/Sandbox

“The Secret” was written and produced by Rhonda Byrne, an Australian television and film producer. The book has also been released as a DVD and was distributed by Prime Time Productions in March 2006. Since its release last year, the book has captured worldwide attention and been translated into over 35 languages. It has become a ‘pop culture’ phenomenon that has met with loud criticism as well as acclaim. The idea was inspired by the book “The Science of Getting Rich”, written in 1910,  one of many books by success/motivational writer Wallace D. Wattles (1860-1911). It’s central claim is that the ‘law of attraction’ governs our universe. According to Byrne, ‘like attracts like’ so that when we think about and feel inside what we wish to attract, this law of ‘attraction’ will manipulate people, circumstances and events in order to draw what we want towards us and likewise to bring us closer to the objects of our desire. Jeffrey Ressner from Time magazine suggested that some call “The Secret” a ‘transformative’ message movie. “Mixing the ancient conspiracy hoodoo of The Da Vinci Code with the psychic science of 2004’s cult hit What the Bleep Do We Know!?, it interweaves computer graphics, historical recreations and interviews with ‘experts’ into a study of ‘intention-manifestation’- the philosophy that contends our emotions and thoughts can actually influence real-world events.”  The DVD resembles a videotaped seminar, featuring commentators with professional titles such as ’quantum physicist’, ‘philosopher’ and ‘visionary’ – many of whom have already written their own ‘Self-Help’ books. This 90-minute-long DVD advocating the power of positive thinking has sold 2 million copies and more than 5.2 million copies of the book of the same name are in print. It has been endorsed by celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey who devoted two shows in February  2006 to "The Secret”,  and by Larry King and Ellen DeGeneres who also featured it on their television shows.  In a nutshell, think good things, and good things will happen.  Simple enough.   However, it was spoofed on "Saturday Night Live" when a man portraying a refugee in the Darfur region of Sudan was blamed for having negative thoughts. (Critics of 'The Secret' Bemoan Claims.. WashtonPost)    Some medical professionals also suggested it could even lead to a blame-the-victim mentality and actually be dangerous to those suffering from serious illness or mental disorders.   "It's a triumph of marketing and magic," said John Norcross, a psychologist and professor at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania who conducts research on self-help books (washingtonpost).  	Believe it or not, self-help books interest many people. They keep turning the pages and find themselves satisfied with the advice provided, but are they consciously evaluating the scale of the advice, since not everything in life comes easy. For people in need of advice, self-help books suggest ways of overcoming problems. Some claim they propose easy answers for difficult questions, and could be harmful for those with mental illnesses. But others say that self-help books simply lead people to think positively and to have self-confidence. In other words, self-help books present simple solutions for difficult problems. As well, by perceiving the world from the theme of a book, people might not deliberate the matters from an intellectual horizon any more. For some medical professionals, the authors of those books are not qualified sufficiently in the relevant field, arguing that they rely on anecdotal evidence rather than established research. That is  why  their  advice  can  actually  prove  harmful,  especially  on  the  vulnerable. For example, in “The Secret”, the author, Rhonda Byrne, writes about a woman who was cured of her breast cancer simply by thinking positively and without medical assistance. Doctors are concerned about the possible isolation of patients who may seek the cures within themselves, not in medicine. This is nothing new according to Salerno, the former editor of Men's Health magazine's books program; the ‘Self-Help’ is   an   $8-billion-a-year  industry  that  depends  on  legions  of  repeat customers. In his book “SHAM” Salerno exposes the so called “Self-Help” industries’ predatory and  deceptive  practices  and  its  corrosive  effects  on society. Ressner suggests that the secret to “The Secret” 's success is the effective way Byrne edits her interviews with 24 so-called "teachers" — prosperity preachers, chiropractic healers, relationship gurus, life coaches, motivational speakers and other empowerment hustlers — into one clear, cohesive voice. The teachers, many of whom have large audiences of their own, were also instrumental in promoting the DVD, touting it in e-mails to millions of their followers. Hale Dwoskin, one  of  the  two  dozen  featured  teachers  on  the film says: "The film delivers a timely message in a way that's accessible, whether or not you've ever explored this direction before." For this reason “The Secret” has been acclaimed to be an extraordinarily successful example of viral marketing, which is also known as W.O.M.(Word of Mouth Marketing), Buzz Marketing or Stealth Advertising. Viral marketing and viral advertising refer to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness, through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of pathological and computer viruses. Word-of-mouth marketing has been around for many decades before the internet, but as with most things - technology can enhance capabilities to allow a simple situation to become more intense. Gary Ruskin of ‘Commercial Alert’ has been quoted as saying "buzz marketing perpetuates large-scale deception upon consumers when people recruited to promote products by word of mouth don't disclose the fact". Advertising and marketing firms have long used the insight and research methods of psychology in order to sell products and services. But today these practices are reaching epidemic levels, and with a complicity on the part of the psychological profession that exceeds that of the past. The result is an enormous advertising and marketing onslaught that comprises, arguably, the largest single psychological project ever undertaken. Yet, this great undertaking remains largely ignored by the relevant psychological associations. “The Secret” as with many other books of its kind, namely the self-help literature industry, raises several important business and social ethical issues that need to be addressed.

Social Responsibility The first is the question of social responsibility for the outcomes of buying and reading the book. This becomes especially important when the purchaser, who has read the book with the expectation (possibly with a high emotional input) that the promises of the book to find the secret of their future happiness and well being, finds that their expectations are not realized and possibly worse with a resultant downturn in their emotional well-being. Although it can be argued that the reader purchased the book freely or that others claim to have benefited by reading the book, this however does not excuse the author from at least some social responsibility for unexpected outcomes for the purchaser, when advertising does not seek to quantify the book’s claims openly, via appropriate disclaimers to the reader. The fact that for a variety of environmental, inherited and other reasons some readers will be unable to “have, be or do anything you want” (from ”The Secret”), simply by reading and believing in a self-help book will not be able to overcome their life situation, be it mental or physical health or socio-economic circumstances (many people in our society remain extremely vulnerable).

Endorsements There is an ethical dilemma where a self-help book is endorsed by other well known writers and speakers within the ‘Self-Help’ industry, because of a possible conflict of interest. For credibility, endorsement should be completely objective, from highly regarded authors outside the self-help industry who clearly have little to gain or lose by the frankness of their assessment of the claims of the book. As an example one of the teachers featured in the book has been discredited and shamed on a “60 Minutes” program in Australia.

Proof of effectiveness The effectiveness of the book’s methodology should be supported by subjective evidence of the number of readers who have benefited from reading it and in what manner. This should be presented in a statistically acceptable sample of readers by an objective analyst. It is not sufficient to say that “Over 5 million copies have sold”, as this is merely a statement of sales which is clearly of benefit to the author and publisher but does not specify the actual benefits to the readers from the book.

Limitations The author and publisher have a social and moral responsibility to point out to prospective readers the limitations of claims made by the book. This should be in the form of a Disclaimer indicating that the methodology described in the book may not be suitable or effective for all readers.

Conclusion The Advertiser Code of Ethics has been adopted by the AANA (Australian Association Of National Advertisers) as a means of advertising self-regulation in Australia. The objective of this code is “to ensure that advertisements are legal, decent, honest and truthful and that they have been prepared with a sense of obligation to the customer and society…”.

Thus far the self-help media industry appears to have been poorly regulated.

Over half a century ago Vance Packard warned the America public of the dangers of being vulnerable to the “Hidden Persuaders”.