Thursday, March 01, 2007

The Secret... Cult?

A great post over at RatTube.com says it all, read it at their post: The Secret Cult.

Some more excellent material on this strange new type of marketing ploy:

Video investigations
The Secret's David Schirmer exposed - A Current Affair, Australia - May 2007
The Secret's David Schirmer exposed (Part 2) - A Current Affair, Australia- June 2007
The Secret's David Schirmer exposed (Part 3) - A Current Affair, Australia- June 2007

News articles
Self-help gone nutty - Los Angeles Times, 2/13/2007

Dollars in the house of gullibility - The Daily Telegraph, 2/14/2007

Want to Know a Secret? (This Book is Crazy) - New York Post, 2/14/2007

Shaking Riches Out of the Cosmos - The New York Times, 2/25/2007

'The Secret' more hooey foisted on gullible people - Sacramento Bee, 3/2/2007

Decoding 'The Secret' : Oprah lives by it. Millions are reading it. The latest self-help sensation claims we can change our lives by thinking. But this 'new thought' may just be new marketing. - Newsweek, 3/5/2007 issue.

Oprah's ugly secret : By continuing to hawk "The Secret," a mishmash of offensive self-help cliches, Oprah Winfrey is squandering her goodwill and influence, and preaching to the world that mammon is queen. Salon, 3/5/2007

Posts and editorials
Big Secret - Swift, Newletter of James Randi Educational Foundation, also more from the James Randi Educational Foundation: An Oprah Fiasco

Oprah Peddling Snake Oil - OpinionEditorials.com, 2/17/2007

The Secret? It's Out, It's Old, and It's Obvious - The Huffington Post, blog, 2/21/2007

The Secret, deconstructed. - SHAMblog, Steve Salerno, 2/22/07
Then there's a follow-up piece by Salerno: And, from the (drop) dead letter file....

There is some more discussion on the Cult Education Forum, at the heading: The Secret (a movie)