No matter the era you are born into, media are something you cannot avoid. They carry distinct characteristics of their time, invading the daily lives of ordinary residents while also serving as vital tools for information dissemination. In ancient times, besides imperial edicts and official documents, there were hearsay and gossip circulating among the people; in modern times, first newspapers and leaflets, then developing into telegraph, telephone, television, and fax. After the internet emerged, information began to be blatant and overwhelming. Thousands of apps plaster various styles of text, audio, and video onto your face, leaving you no escape and no refusal. If you ask the new generation about the "three unavoidable things," I guess they would be: the toxic chicken soup in Moments, the pretty girls on Douyin, and the brainwashing ads in elevators. **-01- **Toxic Chicken Soup in Moments If QQ Space is the gathering place for edgy youth, WeChat Moments is the sharing (and showing-off) platform for acquaintances of all age groups. When the "I Love Life Group" starts showing off the day's food, book lists, and selfies, the "I Love Showing Off Group" is passionately commenting on hot topics with stirring words. When the "WeChat Business Group" floods the screen with products of miraculous effects, several people from the "Parents and Relatives Group" forward the same latest rumor that "garlic can cure COVID-19." Despite the different ages and styles of these four groups, they actually all belong to the same group—the Human Poison·Chicken Soup Group. I guarantee that every WeChat user has forwarded some sentimental, positive-energy toxic chicken soup, and will likely continue to do so in the future. Whether the chicken soup is toxic or not, Moments is definitely toxic. No matter how you dodge, one day you will inevitably collide with toxic chicken soup. Toxic chicken soup teaches you to be positive, to strive upward, to bloom a flower in the despair of an abyss, and how to gain intermittent bursts of ambition while in a state of continuous idleness. Some people are deeply encouraged and forward it, thinking, "One should live like a little sun full of positive energy." Others forward it out of opposition, thinking, "If I'm not positive and upward, am I not worthy to live in this world?" So some people are anti-chicken-soup, and others are anti-anti-chicken-soup. But the two are essentially no different. This is an era where everyone can speak, but no one's voice is heard. The less one is heard, the more one wants to speak and prove oneself. We, the bastards of the new era, are merely hiding behind data streams, seeking false and useless recognition. As we increasingly dislike toxic chicken soup and WeChat's user base becomes more complex, people post and browse Moments less frequently. Then, magically, what was once a circle for sharing among acquaintances has become a new battlefield for brand communication, euphemistically called—private domain traffic. Posting brand information in Moments, creating groups for user operations. The more expensive public domain traffic becomes, the more attractive private domain traffic is. Brands enjoy the dividends of social media, opening new battlefields on the WeChat platform. Like all media in past dynasties, all platforms today cannot escape the fear of being dominated by ads. Because in any era, making a living comes first. **-02- **Pretty Girls on Douyin Moments with only acquaintances is not that interesting; social circles are so narrow, how many new things can there be? So when short-video streaming media, represented by Douyin, rose, it became a new square for people's aesthetic curiosity. Some people show off wealth, novelty, and experiences on Douyin: "I'm the diamond bachelor who travels the world, eats everything, doesn't work, has plenty of money, and you'll never get me." Some people are funny on Douyin: "Give me a bottle of 1982 Sprite, plus some Laoganma with watermelon." Some focus on aesthetics: a handsome guy or pretty girl smiles at the camera and gets hundreds of thousands of likes, follows, and shares. The so-called smart recommendation seems to have no effect on beautiful women. Even if you have gynophobia and stubbornly scroll for a year only seeing silly videos of old men, the system will still recommend a few cute girls, and you can't avoid them. She just smiles at you, but you watch for a long time and still don't know what the video is about. Unlike Kuaishou, Douyin seems to particularly like pretty girls, far more than long-legged handsome guys. When you finally accept the fact that the system endlessly recommends girls to you, one day you sadly discover, damn it, these girls start selling products. Douyin is becoming a new battlefield for influencer brands and promotional sales. Although you understand that making a living is important, you still feel a bit miserable. When you were a child, you stared in shock at TV infomercials saying "only 188, only 998"; later, you no longer had to watch TV, but scrolling through Douyin, you still can't avoid the invasion of ads. The difference is that you no longer have to hear "Hengyuanxiang, sheep sheep sheep, Hengyuanxiang, tiger tiger tiger, Hengyuanxiang, dog dog dog," but instead it becomes "All girls! All girls! Oh my god!" When you close Douyin and open WeChat, you find that Tencent has launched a new Video Account. You click in and watch for a while, not sure if it's a low-rent version of Douyin or Kuaishou, but you can be sure that the short-video era has indeed arrived, and it's only a matter of time before WeChat Video Account is infiltrated by ads. **-03- **Brainwashing Ads in Elevators You feel a bit tired, so you decide not to play with your phone or computer, and go out for a walk. But as soon as you enter the elevator, you hear a voice from somewhere telling you to take online classes at Yuanfudao, to talk to the boss about finding a job, and that Bosideng has worked for 43 years for you in the cold wind... You look up and see the elevator video ads unique to modern technological society: in the small space, catchy tunes bombard you repeatedly, the ads repeat as if stuck on a loop, and you truly cannot ignore them. From then on, you begin "The Life of a Brainwashed Passerby." At first, you feel a bit resistant: why am I forced to be brainwashed by these catchy slogans every day when I go to work, come home, and shop? Then you get angry: why can you swipe past ads on WeChat and Douyin, and video ads can be removed by becoming a VIP, but there is no way to refuse elevator ads? Over time, you have to admit that elevator ads are actually "really good." Just after you get your driver's license and want to buy a car, Shen Teng and "Buying a car won't lose you money" mysteriously appear in your mind; Just as you hold hands with a girl, the sound of "Where do you want to shoot? Shoot there!" echoes in your ears; When you have a child, Zhang Ziyi tells you to buy him "Feihe milk powder, more suitable for Chinese babies' constitution"; When the child grows a bit older, he points at the elevator ad and says, "Mom, I want Brooke toys! Shuke toothbrush! And Milkground cheese sticks!" Indeed, the high-frequency, enclosed, repetitive brainwashing method of elevator ads makes you say "so annoying" when listening, but your body says "really good" when consuming. So even Viya, the top live-streaming host on Taobao, has invested in Focus Media elevator ads. Later, you accept the reality that you are destined to be "harassed" by elevator ads; if an elevator has no ads, you even feel a bit disappointed. Then, you start being "planted" by elevator ads frequently, opening Taobao on your phone to search from time to time, and before you know it, you can't help but "cut off your hands" (spend money). Once you place an order, the omniscient internet monitors your behavior and preferences, and the Douyin girls then follow up with a wave of tailored recommendations—ads thus cycle endlessly, making you keep paying out. Then we discover that the so-called "three unavoidable things in life" all eventually become unavoidable ads. In other words, if a brand occupies the information dissemination tools, it also captures the main battlefield of brand communication. Thus, the world is divided into two camps—those who make ads, and those who are forced to watch them. Those who watch ads try to avoid being force-fed, while those who make ads rack their brains to conquer every DAU high ground. Ordinary people are furious: this is an era where everyone wants to speak, but no one's voice is heard; why doesn't anyone listen to me, yet you force me to listen to you? Fortunately, with self-media, everyone can finally speak. But those self-media with many listeners have, without exception, started accepting ads... because in any era, making a living indeed comes first. What do you think, how can this be solved... Source: Brand New Insider (ID: pinpaixnc) Author: Bami, Wan Huhou Tips will be paid 400-2000 yuan once adopted.