Читать книгу Freedom from the Diet Trap: Slim for Life - Jason Vale, Jason Vale - Страница 42

The Russian physiologist, Ivan Pavlov’s famous experiment illustrated just how easily we can be conditioned. It has been well documented, but for those of you who are not aware of the experiment from the 1890s I will explain it very briefly. He starved his pet dog for three days, then, when he gave it some food, he rang a bell at the same time. After that, every time his dog felt genuine hunger, Ivan would put some food down and at exactly the same time he would ring a bell. He didn’t simply do this once or twice, but over and over again until it became a conditioned response: food/bell, food/bell, food/bell. In the end (and this is why I am using this analogy) even if the dog had already eaten and could have in no way felt genuine physical hunger, when the bell was rung the dog would look for food and literally begin to salivate.

Advertisers for drug and junk food know the power of this and they use it to sell you food when you are not even hungry. Have you ever been driving along, not even thinking about food, when all of a sudden you see the two golden arches of the McDonald’s sign and felt hungry? Or do you remember when you were a kid playing in the street, not thinking of food at all, when all of a sudden you heard the sound of the ice cream man and decided you felt hungry? WELL THAT’S THE BELL. Going to the cinema means popcorn and a drink: THAT’S THE BELL. Easter – a chocolate egg: THAT’S THE BELL. Christmas – turkey or pudding: THAT’S THE BELL. It’s 11.30 a.m. – time for a Diet Coke break: THAT’S THE BELL. Going to get petrol? – time for a pastie, or a bar of chocolate and soft drink: THAT’S THE BELL. Elevenses – time for a cup of tea (and a biscuit of course): THAT’S THE BELL. Watching football – must get the beers in: THAT’S THE BELL.

The fact is we react to a thousand different bells without even realizing it. The way they link in a bell is to advertise it over and over again. Sometimes they even include a specific time to take their product (as in the cases of Diet Coke break at 11.30 a.m. or After Eight mints). This is why they pay people like David Beckham and Britney Spears millions for a 30-second commercial to advertise products like Pepsi-cola. They link their ‘feel good’ music to a product that has nothing to do with feeling good.