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The Zeitgeist has Caught Up with Employee Dissatisfaction – Mary T. O’Sullivan
by Mary T. O’Sullivan, contributing writer, business and leadership
“Fear is the most powerful manipulation because it taps into our survival instinct… In the business world, fear is often used to convince us that if we don’t buy a particular service or product, something bad will happen to us.” – Shortform, a research platform
If you’ve noticed a recent surge in commercials depicting work dread, there’s a good reason. Marketers have tuned into reports and surveys from Gallup and other consulting groups that once again show a significant drop in employee engagement. Madison Avenue has its finger on the pulse of the American worker and knows how to leverage the trends of negativity and lack of motivation towards work. Work misery is a highly relatable, negative emotion that marketers exploit to grab people’s attention so they say, “That’s me!”
Take for instance the “Sunday Scaries”, depicted in the current Zzzquil TV commercial. In less than 60 seconds, a wife soothes her husband’s dread of Monday morning by suggesting he try a swig of Zzzquil, a spin-off of Nyquil, which is known to make people sleepy. Both products work by blocking histamine, a chemical in the brain that keeps you awake, and encourages sleepiness. ZzzQuil can also block acetylcholine receptors. Acetylcholine is a natural chemical that affects many functions in your body, including your heart rate, muscle movement, memory, and attention, so if you turn to Zzzquil, anticipate some unexpected side effects which may make Monday Misery even worse. However, if you’ve dropped a bottle of Zzzquil in your shopping cart during your last trip to the grocery store, Proctor and Gamble has made its point. Sold under the trusted “Vicks” brand, you may think, “Why not give it a try?”
Zzzquil wasn’t the first product to tap into employee dissatisfaction. Slick marketers know that emotional advertising is often more effective than focusing on rational content. An audience’s emotional response to an ad can influence their intent to buy a product two to three times more than the ad’s content itself. Back in 2012, McDonald’s launched an ad campaign focused on people who worked through lunch. The purpose of the campaign was to sell more chicken sandwiches and their new Angus Third Pounder Deluxe burger. How the ads captured workers’ attention was through clever marketing slogans: “It’s your lunch. Take it.”, “A lunch revolution has begun,” “It’s time to overthrow the working lunch” and “A sesame seed of revolt has been planted.” One of the world’s savviest advertisers, McDonalds went so far as to create a commercial where a woman jumps up on top of her desk and proclaims, “I’m going to lunch.” Her co-workers try to dissuade her, telling her that the days of taking a lunch break are long over. In another scene reminiscent of the movie,“Jerry Maguire,” a similarly inspired colleague stands up and says, “I’m going with her.” The music swells, he tears off his lanyard and adds, “I don’t want to be chicken, I want to eat it.”
For many people, stressful work-life balance is a real and present threat to mental and physical health. By tapping into the fear of a draining job, marketers create a sense of urgency. The campaign then positions their product as the solution that can alleviate this all too common fear, compelling consumers to act. We can all relate to spending every lunch hour at our desks working, rather than going out for a walk or even to run an errand.
As brilliant as McDonalds is, CareerBuilder.com took work dissatisfaction to a new level. During Super Bowl XLIII, they aired a commercial featuring a series of work experiences showing just how much people hate their jobs: A woman parks outside of her workplace and sits in her car, screaming at the top of her lungs, a man stands at a bus stop and cries bitterly, another man daydreams of punching out his boss, and another worker is shown being bullied in the office. These vignettes carry a powerful message, work is getting more stressful, and people are on the brink. Viewing this commercial encourages people to grab their laptops and log on to CareerBuilder.com, skipping the Super Bowl half time show to find something better than going to their regular job on Monday.
Harry Katz, dean of the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations acknowledges the effectiveness of these ads, but he cautions, “They are using it in a somewhat manipulative way.”Despite the obvious manipulation, the appeals to downtrodden workers keep coming. If a 30-minute lunch break is not enough of a respite, workers can enter a contest called “Take the Year Off,” sponsored by Gold Peak Tea. The brand, owned by Coca-Cola, will pay $100,000 to the winner to take a year off work to do whatever he or she pleases. Contestants have to describe how they would use their time off. Gold Peak will narrow the entries to five finalists, and fans of the brand on Facebook will vote for the winner. In an attempt at humor and to offer a way to relate, on their Facebook page photos of desperate workers are posted: a man in a suit resting his head in his hands as paperwork piles up around him. In another, a woman kneels against a filing cabinet, her mouth open in a scream of desperation, evoking the famous painting “The Scream” by Edvard Munch.
These brands successfully demonstrate how their product or service offers a path to relieve work stress. This trend is fueled by a wider cultural shift away from “hustle culture,” especially among younger generations, and fueled by the confusing work practices of the pandemic. This cultural trend brings into question the typical exploitative labor practices and the 1980s mindset of “living to work.” Among Gen Z workers, better working conditions, work-life balance, and focusing on personal goals and meaningful work over a demanding 9-to-5 job are appealing.
So, what does all this mean for the rest of us, sitting at our desks and contemplating yet one more commercial with someone dreading Monday mornings? It means brands aren’t just selling us products, instead, they’re savvy enough to tap right into our everyday stresses, hoping we’ll see ourselves in that stress out worker on screen. While these ads feel relatable (who hasn’t dreaded the week ahead?), remember, there’s a lot of sophisticated emotional exploitation involved in getting your attention.
However, don’t let the message go unheeded just because you know it’s manipulative. Take that lunch break, coffee break or vacation week, address burnout with your boss or a mental health professional or just make time for what actually is important for you. Isn’t it time to focus on real ways to balance your work life and personal life. After all, you’re the one living it, why not be the one to change it for the better?
“There is something quite twisted and dangerous about glorifying busy-ness or burnout.” — Eva Selhub, MD, author and workplace health expert.
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Connect with Mary:
Read all Mary’s columns here: https://rinewstoday.com/mary-t-osullivan-msol-pcc-shrm-scp/
Mary T. O’Sullivan, Master of Science, Organizational Leadership, International Coaching Federation Professional Certified Coach, Society of Human Resource Management, “Senior Certified Professional. Graduate Certificate in Executive and Professional Career Coaching, University of Texas at Dallas.
Member, Beta Gamma Sigma, the International Honor Society.
Advanced Studies in Education from Montclair University, SUNY Oswego and Syracuse University.
Mary is also a certified Six Sigma Specialist, Contract Specialist, IPT Leader and holds a Certificate in Essentials of Human Resource Management from SHRM.