Fear vs FUD – Know the Difference

Diana and I began our careers in the technology industry.  When we started out, there was a particular marketing tactic that was being used heavily throughout the industry. It was called FUD.  FUD stands for Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt.

The most memorable FUD campaigns centred around Y2K, at the turn of the century.  You probably remember vividly where you were on New Year’s Eve of 1999, not because it was an exciting time to be a part of human history but because part of you thought this might be the end of human history!  In the months leading up to Y2K we were all sold a message of fear on a grand scale and many of us bought it. In the end, of course, nothing all that bad went down on Jan 1, 2000 and we’re all still here. So what was the purpose?  To sell us stuff.  The same goes for everything from end of the world scenario movies to the nightly news to bank ads for RRSPs (retirement is a huge FUD factory).  Fear sells.

There are two things I’d like to ask you to do now that you’re familiar with the term FUD that will empower you to be a discerning consumer and a more powerful decision maker in all aspects of your life.

1 – The next time you’re consuming media (Internet, TV, movies) consider if there is a FUD factor being used to try and sell you something.  Modern advertising is sneaky and it might be hard to recognize at first, but once you can link the fact that what you are watching is meant to make you fearful for the sole reason of buying something, the fear automatically lessens and you can distance yourself from it.

2 – The next time you’re feeling fearful, decide whether it is rational fear or a form of FUD.  If it’s just FUD (either external or self-imposed), then walk away from it.  Decide that you’re not going to buy into it this time.  You’ll be amazed at how empowering it is when you can make decisions knowing they are not based in FUD.

Fear is important. It serves a purpose to keep us away from harm and we should listen to ourselves when we are fearful.  But we should also learn to recognize FUD and reject it if it is keeping us from what we truly want.