DISCLAIMER 1: I am no professional in either psychology or marketing. Read this with a grain of salt. This is my personal opinion.
DISCLAIMER 2: Remember that greed and selfishness do NOT imply meanness or stepping on anyone's rights, and in fact drive the marketplace making the world a better place for all.
Most Libertarians are smart and quite mentally healthy. We are conscious of our subconscious desires. When our subconscious desires are appealed to, we support them with conscious thought, speech and action.
But I fear that a large segment of the public, especially young people in metropolitan areas (where the trend seems to be liberal), still aren't fully grown up. They still subconsciously satisfy their subconscious desires through the less-mature strategy of manipulation of other people. This is the strategy that we all start out with in life, manipulation of our parents by whining and begging. By the voting years, this strategy has turned into "looking good".
Because of this, young metropolitan people care a great deal about how they are perceived by others. So much so that many things we think they should want, they don't. For instance: 'Honk if you hate taxes' is going to work well with someone who is honest. But many young people don't want to be perceived as greedy, and so they won't honk.
Here are some differences between the mature interdependent person and the young dependent person:
Mature Interdependent Young Dependent
Says what she means Says what she thinks you want to hear
Admits to being selfish Pretends to be nicer than he is
Thinks advertising is free speech Thinks advertising is brainwashing
Ignores advertising that does not Get "brainwashed" by advertising that
appl does apply (unconscious manipulation
of their true desires)
Converting people to Libertarian is akin to helping them mature. We want them to be openly selfish, honest about it, so they can fully consciously join in with the rest of us in fighting the government.
I've seen advertising that appeals to young people's true desires, and makes it "okay" to come out, because now it's hip. We should use that same tactic, appealing to true desires by showing that true people are more likable.
How? You have to appeal to their subconscious and non-logical mind centers, using commercial marketing techniques. You can appeal to their true subconscious desires if you DON'T PUT IT IN WORDS and use quality aesthetics. For instance, if you say "honk if you hate taxes" they will become defensive and try to appear good by saying that they like doing their part -- they will not associate with the word "hate" or with the appearance of being greedy (they think admitting that makes them unlikable). They are quickly rearranging things to see if it makes them look good or not to other people. But if you just show them pictures, a hip-looking young guy looking at a simple short tax bill with a small number at the bottom, and grinning, they may allow themselves to associate with the message.
I am putting together a 30-second commercial advertising script geared towards young people. Once I get it fleshed out, I'll send it to the list. I'm also finding out how much it would cost to produce (I have friends in the business). Tag line: "Life. Your way. Libertarian."