The shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his own are the same. – [Stendhal]

Consider the following quote by Joe Vitale taken from How to Control The "Command Center" In Your Prospect’s Mind.

Vitale, CEO of Hypnotic Marketing, is widely known as a marketing genius. When considering that The Secret essentially is a book of quotes with Rhonda Byrne merely filling in the blanks, it is noteworthy that Vitale is one of the most prolific of the 30 contributors listed in the biography section of the book. In fact he is responsible for more than 10% of the almost 250 extracts. This is opposed to Neale Donald Walsch who has less than one percent of the quoted content attributed to him. It is also noted that only 1% (three short extracts) of the quotes are credited to Wallace Wattles, the author of the 1910 book The Science of Getting Rich which supposedly was the source of Byrne’s inspiration. Though based on Vitale’s prodigious coverage when compared to that of Wattles, in the very least Vitale had been a far more significant inspiration.

Notwithstanding this, what is abundantly apparent is that the book bears the hallmarks of his hypnotic writing style. And because what The Secret actually amounts to is targeted marketing, Vitale is suspected to be the true mastermind behind the project—specifically because it was initially marketed through the internet, viral marketing, Vitale’s other brainchild.

The previous extract was taken from a promotional publication titled Energy Marketing. Though at times giving some useful marketing tips, specifically on marketing through the internet, the objective of the 115 page document was to sell Vitale’s hypnotic writing services.  Specifically the article was about convincing why Hypnotic Marketing works and why companies should pay Vitale $50,000 to write them a hypnotic script which he guarantees will significantly increase their sales revenue.

To get an idea of what Hypnotic Marketing is, I’ve extracted the following from the article.

Vitale further gives us insight into how he goes about controlling the command centre of his prospect. 

What Vitale admits in this article is that the page itself is Hypnotic Marketing in practice, and thus to any lucid thinking person the contents ought to be of little consequence. That is with the exception of the previous quotes which speak to Vitale’s unmistakable intent: to control and manipulate the command centre of his prospect’s mind by putting a spell on them that they, like a robot, give him money.

His “one command” he uses to put his prospects under his spell being that “they can gain anything their hearts desire”—that one can achieve happiness beyond one’s wildest desires, and without having to make the commensurate effort at all. While words such as spiritual, ethical and legitimate, are carefully chosen words to convince "his prospect" that what he is suggesting is morally above board.

What is apparent is that The Secret had taken Hypnotic Marketing to the ultimate mass level. 

While there certainly are deeper moral issues with regard to using what otherwise can be considered mind control methods to influence one’s ‘prospects’ mind for financial, political or other gain, the issue this work attempts to address is not that of the morality per se as it pertains to the methods; but rather of the content being propagated. I suppose in the dog eats dog world we are forced to eek out a living in, one can be somewhat excused for using whatever means one has at one’s disposal to draw attention to one’s commercial wares, particularly if there are those gullible enough to fall for it.

The real issue therefore, and the one this work attempts to address, concerns one’s own responsibility in having been duped. And how the following terms consequently would aptly apply to oneself.

To have been put a spell on … to act predictably like a robot… to have been programmed to send money to somebody you don’t know…or that you perpetually are in a self-serving trance…

And if one cannot see The Secret as such a concerted means of mass commercial indoctrination, then clearly Vitale and his cohorts have already put such a binding spell on your own command centre. Moreover, as if you were a robot, will also uncritically buy whatever esoteric non-existent wares they may be offering you.

In any event Vitale certainly appears to have scant regard for his ‘prospect’, viewing them as mere targets for his wares. Though at the same time Vitale clearly markets himself as a spiritually enlightened person. In his biography on The Secret it is indicated he holds a doctorate in metaphysics and is an ordained minister. Though clearly one cannot reconcile the above utterances with what these roles are supposed to represent.

For the purposes of this work it is important to impress on one's intellect that: these roles gives him the necessary psychological legitimacy in the mind of his prospect which allows him to exert the level of control over those he wishes to commercially exploit.

Furthermore, while I admittedly had not read any of Vitale’s other material, what is apparent from browsing through this 2004 publication, is that it can be regarded as a manifesto for The Secret. Particularly as it contains much of the Hypnotic Writing which had made the DVD and book such a monumental success.

To put it plainly, these marketers know how we are programmed and thus how we on mass are likely to respond to their suggestions. Perhaps it’s their right to take full advantage of our stupidity, so to exploit us in any way we allow them to. But certainly the onus must be on us to wizen up and take control by not giving up our conscious power as easily as they are expecting us to.

This extract is from Scourge: The Demise of Critical Thinking in the Age of “The Secret” critiquing the movie/book “The Secret”. In it I warned that this doctrine posed a grave danger to any unquestioning follower’s mental as well as physical well being. At the time many who read the manuscript thought I was a being a bit dramatic with my pronouncements as they merely saw it as wacky, and that it would blow over just as quickly as it came on the scene. Nevertheless more than four years on, it's still going strong. 

However, since recent the horrific deaths of three participants in a “Spiritual Warrior” retreat in Sedona Arizona operated by one of the “Masters of The Secret” James Arthur Ray, there has been an escalating interest in the book. Many are indeed now questioning the modis operandi of these fraudsters, and how it is possible that they are able to exploit so many with such impunity. Ray for instance having charged 69 people $10,000 for an activity that should not have cost more than $300, while providing ramshackle facilities which did not even have the necessary permit. This excluding air fair of up $5000 and other items which they had to purchase such as a $250 Peruvian poncho to protect them against the desert cold If you work it out. Consequently Ray profiting more than half a million dollars from this single event.