Advertisers have invoked the ancient ones, both eastern and western, with great success. We have accepted the gods into our earthly realm with nary a blink or a nod. When I use my favorite cleanser, I reach for the container of Ajax, and shake out the white powder over the nasty stain, without a thought to the Greek hero who rescued the body of Achilles during the Trojan War. When I'm sneaking a snack, I might unwrap a Mars bar, but I don't curse Mars the Roman god of war, although perhaps I have indeed lost the battle of the bulge. And when I want to go jogging, I slip my reluctant feet into my Nike running shoes, but never for a moment do I beg Nike the goddess of victory to help me finish the last mile, though it occurs to me that maybe I should.
Myth is alive and well in the marketplace, and in our consumer subconscious.
When even ordinary everyday objects are placed in a mythic context or imbued with an archetypal association, then that lowly object or humble service takes on mythic qualities and proportions. The product becomes godlike. Maybe, without realizing it, I bought my Olympus camera to record my precious memories and moments because the abode of the gods will ensure my pictures come out perfectly and beautifully. In the book Kinds of Power , James Hillman explains why the co-opting of these mythic images and personages serve to transform the mundane, the banal, the everyday into something greater, grander or extraordinarily sublime. According to Hillman, advertising is the domain of Peitho, the Greek goddess of persuasion.