Once I was thinking why Coca-Cola needs advertisement for as its product has its sustainable place in the world market.
From America through Europe, from Asia through Africa and Australia – everyone knows this drink. The same thing concerns Pepsi too – it has its sustainable place and is famous too, but still spends huge money on commercial. Are they competing? Hardly they do as both of them have rather stabile consumers. For instance, I have seen that there are as many people around me that like Coca-Cola as Pepsi.
Thus, I didn’t understand the purpose of advertising on the part of these two giants until once I found an article concerning products publicity. American journalist Jeremy Hopkins said that the consumers’ memory forgets everything soon and if you don’t feel the brand of a product with their eyes and years all the time, they are starting to look for something else. Not being afraid to seem “very vulgar”, he said that if famous cigarette Marlboro stops its advertisement for about one month, it may lose a number of its consumers since hardly all of them like that cigarette because of its specific nice taste.
I remembered this when reading the coverage of Marxist David Hakobyan’s press-conference in Aravot newspaper, which was done with the help of lovely Anna Israyelyan. The reason I read that article was not the fact that it had Anna Israyelyan’s signature (I always read Anna’s articles), but the fact that I was impressed by the first sentence much: “Yesterday the chair of the Marxists’ party of Armenia, David Hakobyan called the journalists “my soldiers of news” in “Pastark” club…”. (Aravot, 11.08.07 “How a prince should be like”).
“My soldiers of news…” It is wonderful, unique and at the same time a little bit shocking. I remembered about my article entitled “Forget about Herostratus”, which I wrote two years ago. In that article I remembered about Mark Chapman, who killed John Lennon, and Herostratus, who burnt the temple, which I concluded that Tigran Urikhanyan had become a man, i.e. a politician due to journalists only, which was done for free. The fact that Tigran Urikhanyan has not ever called the journalists as “my soldiers of news” during press conferences was not due to his modesty, but due to lack of dramatics.
Thus, according to Jeremy Hopkins, Coca, Pepsi or Philippe Morris are afraid to lose their consumers, being forgotten and forced out of the market, so why shouldn’t the Armenian politicians be afraid of that?
There was time when Ricky Martin, Enrique Iglesias and Philip Kirkorov were always shown on almost all channels. The images of these guys were a result of the hard work of “the soldiers of news”. “The soldiers of news” saw that the society was not interested in them any more, thus they started to be the soldiers of others. Now, when Ricky Martin, Enrique Iglesias and Philip Kirkorov have passed from the scene, how can, for instance, Manuk Gasparyan stay and be famous? He can stay only due to the Armenian journalists and editors. They are advertising the “Manuk Gasparyan” political brand for free and without any payment despite the fact that this person received something close to be zero from the consumers on May 12.
The same thing concerns Aram G. Sargsyan too. If you don’t advertise Stepan Demirchyan any more, some time later someone may ask where Karen Demirchyan’s son is. Otherwise, if you don’t advertise Aram Z. sargsyan, someone may ask what happened to Vazgen Sargsyan’s brother. Currently the “soldiers of news” are actively advertising Aram G. Sargsyan despite the fact that hardly there may be anything reminding about him if they don’t advertise.
This politician, and why not, many other oppositionists are going to different clubs, meeting journalists in different places without knowing that, for instance, car mechanic Harut or driver Rafo or plumber Vanik or many others that don’t have any “soldiers of news” are able to think more rationally and in a better manner than they do. However, they are not guilty, or it is not their fault.
I don’t think that the coverage of David Hakobyan’s interview or Manuk Gasparyan’s meeting are enlarging the group of readers to the extent that it makes it possible to solve any problems in a hardly surviving or other newspaper editorials. For that purpose, I am proposing to define a marginality level in newspapers. For instance, if a political leader, who is “flying in dreams”, wants to express ideas, shall pay a sum equal to the minimum wage multiplied by one hundred and divided in the number of the members of his/her party. However, in order to make it sure the number is calculated fairly the editor shall also demand them to bring the signatures of their party members too.
In such case the readers will not have to receive and accept ideas, which are coming out from the brains of “funny” people, sportsmen, communists and people with mental disabilities. However, if there are any people who are ready to pay the marginality level amount, it will help our newspapers develop and prosper, and the journalists will be able to spend their next vacation in Canary Islands or Baden-Baden.