Supernatural Conversations 1- Where our reporter discovers how souls are lost

I got this abstract from Fund Supermarket. For all you friends who are studying marketing, I'm sure you'll find this interesting =D Just so you know, us marketers are a microcosm of Devlin being interviewed below. *EVIL LUFFS*

Reporter: Mr. Devlin. Thank you for agreeing to this interview, I don't think that we have heard much of you since the days of Faust.

Dev: AH yes, Faust. We did things a little clumsily back then; all that business with singing on agreement with blood. It was all unnecessarily messy.

Reporter: Yes, but it is someone's soul that you want; wouldn't you require a definite show of commitment? A signature in blood seems like the most natural thing.

Dev: Yes, yes, it's so ... obvious, isn't it? But therein lies the problem. It's too obvious. And it's painful, prickly and squelmish... that not many people were willing to do it. Our success rate for closing deals was very low. So we had to restrategize, find a way to win souls without being so obvious and messy; a way where people would give us their souls without them quite knowing about it.

Reporter: Without them knowing? How could you achieve that?

Dev: Well, we started by re-examining every aspect of our modus operandi. We kept what worked and discarded what was difficult, slow, cumbersome or messy.

Reporter: What did you find?

Dev: We found that what worked was the same, to promise people whatever it is that they wanted. But we needed to get the message out quicker. What didn't work was thte way that we tried to trap their souls. Blood-on-agreement doesn't work; it's too messy, too slow. What we needed was a way to trap many souls, a huge number, masses even. We had to change our mindset and adapt to the times.

Reporter: And you came up with . . .

Dev: Advertising.

Reporter: Advertising?

Dev: Yes, we couldn't possible appear in person to everyone that we wanted to trap and make the offer of everything-you-desire. That was too slow. We found that we could use advertising to create enticing messages about the kinds of things that people want. Nice cars, big houses, splendid holidays. We fanned the desire in people for wanted luxurious, expensive things. That was our way of 'making the offer', and we could reach the masses at once.

Reporter: OK, that creates desire and...

Dev: Then we offer a way for people to get all of those wonderful things.

Reporter: That would be . . .

Dev: Debt. All kinds of debt; credit card, housing, motor, personal credit, anything that they can simple sign on the dotted line- with ink, not blood- and then go off to buy whatever they want.

Reporter: Right, and then...

Dev: We advertise some more, create more desire, I mean, once you have that nice car, can you possibly live in that small flat? What about that cheap watch you are wearing? You deserve something better, because you are special, because you have worked so hard, because you are someone successful, because you are a woman, because you are a man. You, you, it's all about you! You should pamper yourself, indulge a little! You can achieve all these dreams; you can make them all come true right now! You deserve it. You deserve it! . . . Basically, we keep putting these messages out.

Reporter: and. . .

Dev: And we watch when people take on more debt.

Reporter: OK, but still, this only traps them financially. I thought you wanted their souls?

Dev: Ha ha ha. . . it's not so obvious now is it? We had an epiphany. Why did we want physically blood? it is of no use. Money... that's the real life-blood of a human being. We strap him there, and his soul is gone.

Reporter: How so?

Dev: Well, you can imagine, there are always the easy ones, those who cross the line. Those who feel that they are in need of money that they lie, cheat, steal and rob. You've seen many of those. Brother against brother, children against their parents, lawyers who run away with their clients' money, corporate bigwigs who embezzle their company's funds, even lowly clerks who forge company cheques. They are in the news everyday. Why do they do it? some of these are really smart people, shouldn't they know better? They do it because they have been seduced, one way or another, to think that they are better than everyone else, that they deserve more. And when they run out of money, and they are deep in debt, and they still think that they deserve more, they cross the line, commit a sit, and their souls are lost!

Reporter: OK... but these people, they must still be in the minority?

Dev: Yes, how astute you are. They are the obvious ones. The ones who fall quickly. You could say that they are unfortunate, or fortunate, depending on how you look at it. The others, the legions out there, they suffer a slow painful death. Their souls slip out of their beings very slowly, sometimes even imperceptibly, but they eventually become a hollow shell.

Reporter: (GULP) "The legions..."

Dev: Yes, your average man-in-the-street debt-ridden individual. The middle class. The ones who are forced to work because they have their upgraded mortgage to pay, those who felt they needed to drive a bigger car. They bought into our message, and so they think they are living their dreams. But they have really mortgaged their future and lost their freedoms. Because what can they do if they have an unreasonable and smelly boss? What can they do if they find no joy in their work? Nothing! You've seen the bumper sticker? "I owe, I owe, it's off to work I go?" you appreciate the onomatopoeic quality? The hollowness of the words? It's souls, souls emptying out of the person!

Reporter: Uhm... what about the poor people?

Dev: The poor? Well, you know, blessed are the poor for... you know, they cant' get a credit card. So they go on with their simple lifes, contented with what they have. But we're working to change that. We're thinking, maybe some kind of debit card first, to let them experience the joys of spending on plastic. And then slowly entire them to think about the possibilities of increasing their debit limit, so that they can buy more, and then we ease them in with a low-value credit card. And from that point on, they'll be lost, like the masses.

Reporter: You've ... though of everything. But aren't you afraid that by agreeing to this interview, our readers might know of your dastardly plan and then they would not fall into your trap?

Dev: That is impossible. No one can escape. You see, it is the most basic of existential feelings; even I am not above it. What is it? It is vanity! We are all vain creatures. We have that hungering thirst for others to think of us as beautiful, successful, powerful, special beings. We cannot stand it for others to think of us as normal, average, just one-of-billions-of-others! The humans may read your article and have a moment of awareness, but they will flip the page of your magazine and see the advertisement for a shiny new car, a pair of exquisite high heels, and they will forget everything they have read and start counting their salary to see if they would quality for a new loan. This new strategy of ours is not so new, only the means have changed to help us improve our productivity. But it is the oldest strategy of all. You can have the world, anything you desire! How come? Because you are our special customer! In fact. . . your loan has already been pre-approved. . . you can get cash in one hour. Just one little signature here, it's all we want. Right here.