A real shock to the system

Ever wondered if a situation arose in which you could inflict a great deal of pain on another human being for no apparent reason, would you take it?

50 years ago an experiment was conducted by Stanley Milgram, measuring the willingness of participants to obey an authoritative figure dressed in white coat that instructed them to illicit shocks on another human being, called the learner.

Basically, the participant was told to shock a man if he failed to answer a series of questions correctly, with the shocks getting severer with each incorrect answer. Now, what must be pointed out is that the learner was in on the game and was in reality not privy to the shocks. Still, the experiment found 65% of people involved were willing to administer the 450- volt shock despite exclamations, shrieks and a real belief that the learner was suffering.


When I first read of the experiment I remember feeling surprised; however, I must admit I thought the experiment was a product of the time. I’ve always believed the experiment was only successful because it was undertaken in the ‘60s when society was largely more submissive than today.

This week, that theory has been proven irrevocably wrong.

On Wednesday night, a French television programme was aired featuring a similar type social experiment. In “The Game of Death” participants believed they were contestants on a pilot game show. The game involved zapping a fellow contestant if he/she got questions posed wrong.

In a radical turn of events and a personal blow to my ego, 80% of contestants administered 460- volt shocks after being spurred on by the game- show host.

This would suggest that today’s society has a far greater chance of being influenced by outside factors than the 1960’s. Further, Milgram’s experiment was conducted by a stern lab -technician, whereas the ring- leader on Wednesday night was a giddy glamorous game- show host. Before you protest on the grounds that the selection of contestants may have been bogus consider that audience members, also believing the game to be real, spurred on the contestant to administer shocks, exclaiming: “Punishment”.

I guess today’s society could be influenced by television to a far greater extent than one is comfortable admitting.

TigerGADE

Gatorade may have dropped Tiger Woods after numerous illicit affairs became public knowledge but that didn’t stop his face appearing on 100 bottles of the energy drink in Denver, Colorado.

Pop art is most certainly not dead and the newest guerrilla artist is particularly miffed by a certain multi- millionaire- golfer being dropped from yet another endorsement deal.

100 bottles of Gatorade were branded with a unique label featuring a picture of Tiger Woods, his wife and the caption ‘Unfaithful’ over the weekend.

It seems that Gatorade were not happy with all the free publicity and the artist or friend of the artist, Jason Eric Kay, has been arrested and could face a sentence of up to three years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Not one to shy away from the limelight, Kay, sent a letter to the manufacturer offering to go on tour placing his labels on Gatorade bottles worldwide. As if that wasn’t enough to land the 38 year old in hot water he actually printed his email address on the offending labels.

Apparently the reason for the AHEM bold move was an attempt to imitate the style of pop art legend Andy Warhol. There are certainly similarities to be made. One of Warhol’s most famous paintings was a repeated image of 100 green Coca Cola bottles.

Andy Warhol’s 100 green bottles of coke can be viewed as a comment on our consumer society.

Warhol famously said of the painting “What’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca Cola, and you know the President drinks Coca Cola, Liz Taylor drinks Coca Cola, and just think, you can drink Coca Cola, too. A coke is a coke and no amount of money can get you a better coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the cokes are the same and all the cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, and you know it.’’

So what exactly was Kay supposed to be showing? That everyone can drink Gatorade and in turn become a rich golfer with a string of extramarital affairs. Oh the similarities between Kay and Warhol are uncanny.

If this prank does nothing else it may make billion dollar companies think before they drop Tiger Woods again.