Conscious Choice: Om My...Meditation Marketing

June 2003 | Editor’s Note

Om My...Meditation Marketing

I didn’t pay much attention at first but now it’s hard to ignore; I’m wondering if you’ve noticed too? The latest gimmick in advertising is to use parodies of yoga classes and people in a cross-legged mediation pose to sell product.

A Crate and Barrel billboard tells you to "Find Yourself," with the image of a young woman in meditative pose surrounded by "stuff." In direct mail, Volkswagen shows a photo of a service guy sitting cross-legged and meditating atop a VW Beetle. The caption reads: "To your Volkswagen, he’s a guru." Sales circulars in newspapers depict models in that now familiar meditative pose to sell yoga wear. One of the more odious examples is a radio commercial that portrays a yappy yoga instructor as a crook persuading her (dimwitted) students to pass their valuables to the front of the class. I’ve seen many other examples in print and on TV but have not until recently paid attention to the frequency of these images.

I don’t quite know what to make of this trend. Those of us who practice meditation do so in order to calm the mind and escape the everyday materialist chase, however Madison Avenue exploits it to sell everything from financial security to pots and pans. It’s a glaring irony...this superficial portrayal of honored approaches that nurture Peace, Love, and Understanding.

Before I’m dismissed as an overly sensitive granola head, maybe I need to chalk it up to the "nothing is sacred" free speech aspect of our wonderful democratic society. Every religion, ethnic group — and now — spiritual practice is fodder for poking fun and selling most anything.

I take solace in the fact that I’ve met some of the smartest and most intriguing people I know through personal development/spiritual work. Yet this snide advertising approach depicts participants as anything but smart and intriguing. Does the old adage: "any publicity is good publicity" stand in this case? Do you believe that, despite the goofy light that’s shed on meditative practice, there are those who will explore it as a result of this advertising and find a path of self-exploration?

I suppose, in the end, it doesn’t matter. After all, I remind myself, what will be, will be. The fact that it rankles me is my issue. Meditatively speaking, I need to just let it go... .

Agent of Big Change

Eboo Patel’s mission continues to grow and become more involved to his (and our) delight! We profiled the 27-year-old Chicago Muslim peace activist as our cover story back in December ("Agent of Change"). Since then his efforts to engage local teenagers in interfaith events — allowing them to share their diverse belief systems to build understanding and tolerance among the faiths in the face of divisive war and rancor -— has caught the attention of area high schools. This is a huge leap as prior to this, the youth groups, which include Hindus, Muslims, Jews, and Christians, were gathering only in meeting spaces at churches, synagogues, etc. Now, with invitations to meet at various high schools, the students’ activities are that much more visible to their fellow teens. As this "outreach" grows, so does participation by other students.

Moreover, Patel’s work has embraced the 20- and 30-somethings. For one, these young adults of various ethnic backgrounds are coming together to hash out their thoughts, beliefs, and feelings about the U.S. war action against Iraq. As all religions object to the violence that accompanies war, these forums make for lively, peace-mongering discussions! If you’re interested in more info, you can go to the Interfaith Youth Core Web site at www.ifyc.org.

Peace Newsletter Discontinued

Regretfully, we must discontinue our weekly peace newsletter due to constraints on our staff. Thanks to all of you who signed up to receive the electronic listing of local goings on. We encourage you to continue to take actions toward peace and justice. A couple good Web sites that focus on local as well as national peace events are www.UnitedforPeace.org, www.Internationalanswer.org.

— Rebecca Ephraim

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