[Conspiracy Sarah] I have always been interested in the psychology of media. Those of you that have followed me for a while will already know that my mom seeded this interest in me. She always insisted on muting commercials, and got rid of TV entirely by the time I was 7. She used trips to the grocery store to teach us how companies advertise specifically to children, and why children are almost always a target audience.I have come to believe that media, and entertainment in general and without exclusion, are used as advertisement. Commercials that play separately are the most blatant and obvious way in which advertisement is delivered via media.
While still relatively overt, placing a branded product in a show or film advertises less conspicuously, particularly to children. An example of this is the use of Reeses Pieces in the film E.T.
Brands and products are not the only things that can be advertised within media. More covert promotions are being delivered via screens, embedding messages that the conscious mind often does not perceive. This is arguably the primary reason for the introduction and existence of television as well as the subsequent emergence of other forms of media and entertainment.
Although much less obvious, narratives and agendas enter the brain and are very effectively reinforced subconsciously as media is consumed. For example, the show Dexter delivers a very clear message around DNA evidence as iron clad and forensic science as settled science.