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Life of a Salesman

2021-10-14 View on smbc-comics.com → 1 revision
Life of a Salesman
Votey panel for Life of a Salesman
This explanation is incomplete or may contain errors. It was generated by AI and has not yet been reviewed by a human editor.

Explanation

This comic draws a parallel between two types of people who share similar rhetorical techniques but exist on opposite ends of a political spectrum.

The first panel describes how "many a woman's life is destroyed by a door-to-door salesman selling a product or experience that doesn't exist," paired with how traditional salespeople use emotional manipulation and high-pressure tactics.

The second panel describes how people get "fired up by conspiracy-focused media organizations covering political, mental, and paranormal topics" who use online and TV platforms to make claims about the state.

The third panel connects these two phenomena: "Everyone thought engagement was a good thing, but..." followed by a character noting that "dear attention must be bad, see how it makes us so rich!"

The comic is drawing a comparison between traditional door-to-door scams and modern media conspiracy operations -- both exploit people's credulity and emotional vulnerability for profit. The title "Life of a Salesman" is a play on Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman," and the comic argues that the fundamental sales technique of exploiting trust and fear has simply migrated from doorsteps to screens, with conspiracy media being the modern equivalent of the travelling con artist.

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