It might be that we are not more resistant in general, but that ads and propaganda are tailored for normative minds not for ours. If they made them specially for autistic people it could be the other way around.
this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2025
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That makes way more sense.
Advertising bird seed and dog leashes to someone who keeps a python as a pet isn’t going to get them to buy anything. Make an ad about an auto-adjusting heat lamp and high quality frozen mice and they’ll probably perk up. Toss in an offer of a free snake plushie and a 10% first time discount for good measure.
Nobody is immune to propaganda, but yeah it’s easier to ignore and not relate to something when it’s not targeted at you.
I'm interesting. Has there ever been a confirmed report of this happening?
I'm not doubting you, by the way, I'm just interested in whether someone's ever leveraged this for malicious reasons.
Dose turning ships and guns into hot anime wiafus to garner military support count?
No, but I don't see why it shouldn't
Asd. Hate ads. I don’t think it’s resistance to the suggestiveness of ads, I’ve definitely found some that lure me in, it’s that ads attempt to deflect me from what I’m doing. That’s irritating AF.
Not respective to most common ads, but boy howdy am I easy to sell stuff to if advertised in "my way".
E.g. "this jacket is used by famous cool man" less effective, while "this nail gun can fire nails at precise speeds" fuck yes give me one I'll figure out why I need it later.
this nail gun can fire nails at precise speeds"
That's what advertising should be. Promote a product based on its specifications rather than attempt to trick a consumer with subtle emotions.
Silent spec table beside rotating product with QR codes to product page and cad file
Should be according to who?
This describes me to a tee, too.
I think we (i.e. generalization about all people) like to think we are too smart for ads or propaganda. I'm sure I'm being advertised to in ways I can't perceive, and it's working.
I also don't think it's fair to say that any political belief is less exposed to propaganda. Further, sometimes the political propaganda is in the form of product advertising, like when it is suggested that your purchase will right some injustice in the world.
political beliefs on Lemmy that seem resistant to propagandized beliefs
What is this assumption even based on? This is a left-wing echo chamber made up of people who largely share the same beliefs. Of course we think our views are the right ones, that we see the truth, and that those people over there are just morons or victims of propaganda. But the reality is that people on the other side of the political spectrum think exactly the same thing. Naturally, you assume you’re immune to it all - just like everyone thinks they’re an above-average driver.
No one really realizes that they consume propaganda. To most people, there are true statements an propaganda. True statements align with their beliefs, whereas propaganda doesn't. The way we conceptualize propaganda means that we are all 'resistant' to it by definition.
I like to think I'm resistant to it, that I recognize nuances in places where other people don't. But I know that when I think something is good, there's a very big chance I only have one side of the story and my opinion may be completely different if I had approached it from that other perspective.
The overwhelming trend from Americans here seem to be far (for america) left political views.
There are outliers, and this could be a correlation or Lenny's own form of propane's, but there's still a lot of disagreement in the comments over the finer points a lot of the time (as Reddit once was like) so imo there is some evidence of broad resistance to at least some forms of propaganda here. Given also how much of it is outright critical of many of the more mainstream forms of propaganda.
It's admittedly a weak correlation based on personal experience browsing /r/all so it would be absurd to imply anything causal re: autism but thinking about that got me thinking about this and also a better chance to understand some members of another type of neurotypical so I figured I'd ask.
Full disclosure: This post popped up in my "all" feed. I'm also not autistic.
Not just a meme - https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-fallible-mind/201708/why-advertising-falls-flat-in-individuals-autism
Short version: so much of advertising relies on emotional manipulation using subtle cues. So individuals who don't respond to subtle emotional cues in advertising aren't manipulated by them.
And messages like these (yOu ArE nAtUrAlLy iMmUnE) are very harmful and wrong. To quote one recent article:
The autistic brain’s preference for factual information and logical reasoning can indeed provide some protection against emotionally manipulative tactics. […]
The article then continues to list examples of persuasion techniques that work on spectrum individuals. With examples of nostalgia and hypnotics. I'm not an expert in marketing, but given the random bells, jingles, dog barks, baby/cat cries in marketing from the last 25 years, I bet these logic-thought terminating triggers have been baked into advertising for a long time.
Which is all typical of articles that treat autistic people as a monolithic group
I never understood why someone would pay so much money to give ADs if noone watch them. Then after I figured myself out I was like oh well
I believe most people think they’re more immune against advertisement than they actually are. Our purchasing decisions are influenced by ads more than we would like to admit.
That being said, I think there’s some truth to the statement. Autistic people are not affected by peer pressure in the same way.
Pretty sure big part of this is selection bias combined with ASD making it more likely for us to subscribe to more extreme versions of ideologies due to all or nothing mindset. It doesn’t guarantee that you’re going to be a cool hippie uncle because it could be the exact opposite too.
To give an example - most of the older autistic people in my family are in denial of this which in consequence makes them pretty shitty people. Living in denial of your autism oftentimes means that you’re also living in denial of being bisexual which leads to funky opinions like sexuality being a choice. Being aware you’re being manipulated can also make you more isolated and in turn ramp up paranoia or other schizoid type behaviours. When you feel like an alien it’s much easier to subscribe to cutthroat views about economy and things like that. TLDR: there are vile autistic people too
People who who lean towards things literally not being as impacted by vague emotional implications of most advertising not being as susceptible, but not immune, makes a lot of sense. Advertising often tries to associate a feeling with a product without making a direct connection, or by using unrealistic scenarios that anyone who really thinks about it should notice.
For example, a bunch of people having fun at a restaurant makes an association for most people, but someone who more actively thinks about it knows it is actors pretending and not their own personal experience. It can still work if it does reinforce their personal positive experiences though! I saw a retro ad for Showbiz Pizza at one point and was absolutely filled with nostalgia as that place was perfect for my young ADHD and probably on the autism spectrum self. On the opposite end, any ad for Olive Garden pisses me off.
This makes sense.
I like to eat, get my bill, and immediately. It's a restaurant. I'm there for the food. Why the fuck would I linger.
One of the things I loved the most in Japan is they bring you as soon as, or shortly after, you get your food. If you add more they just bring you an updated bill.
Or there's a machine at the front so you can just pay before you leave. You still have the bill though.
Like. Fuck. It was like being in heaven.
I love the card reader at the tables trend for some restaurants in the US so I don't need to flag down wait staff to pay.
I think that could lead to an interesting research. Then again, you have to keep in mind most advertising is meant to elicit an emotion, which is why car ads are never about the car itself and more about you being "free" or "adventurous" or whatever thanks to the car; or why beer commercials are about fun, parties and sports despite them tasting like shit. Things that you remember more easily when you're buying groceries, so you're more likely to go with that brand over another.
I don't think they work with me, tho. This is their holy grail, convincing you while making you think you made that choice all by yourself.
Robin Williams: "I wish beer commercial were more honest, like: you just pissed on a dumpster. It's 3 o'clock in the morning: 'it's miller time'"
I don't know about anyone else but I take steps to ensure that I rarely see any ads. The manipulation of political beliefs is far more than just ads though, however the people who don't care about seeing ads also seem to be the people who don't mind using Facebook, twitter etc.
I’ve seen autism go either way on the political spectrum. I’d really say it’s 50/50. You’ll find a lot of undiagnosed autistics go right
McDonald's is trash. But if I'm hungry and I see McDonald's ad, I'm probably getting McDonald's.
Not all marketing works on us. But why would it? Marketing's goal is to affect as many people as possible. Therefore it is designed for the larger populus of neurotypicals. And we obviously think differently than neurotypicals. But resistant not immune.
I wonder if the concept of identity has anything to do with it (see https://neuroclastic.com/the-identity-theory-of-autism-how-autistic-identity-is-experienced-differently/ )? If advertising focuses on NTs and social/relational examples for the product, perhaps that is why it is less effective on autistics?
As others said, stuff is not targeted at us. So yeah does not apply a lot.
And personally I can tell that it takes a lot to get me off of my beliefs and that's in hard evidence. But I will follow the evidence; even if it's against myself, what not a lot of people would do.
I think Greta once said that it needs someone like her to do things (sadly imo she mixed environment and politics and now stands for nothing for me). So I am very convinced we're on a hard path bringing down humanity (at least environmentally).