Futurama Pimps Out Young Audience to Monsanto

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If you wanted to reach an audience of smart, hip young people, how would you do it? If you wanted to convince the young, energetic idealists that something was a good idea, how would you target them? One way to reach such a group would be through a fast-paced funny bit of “light entertainment” geared towards a slightly geeky, intelligent, and witty teen and young adult audience.  A simple animated television program. Take the show Futurama, for example. Aired at different points on Fox, the Cartoon Network, and Comedy Central, this show is from the creators of the iconic pop culture hit, The Simpsons. Often messages that are destined to change our perceptions are subliminal.  Not so with the recent episode, Leela and the Genestalk. (Aired on Aug 7, 2013) Subtlety is NOT really what they’re going for here.

Synopsis: 

After a rare condition causes Leela to grow tentacles, she stumbles upon a secret genetic engineering facility.

In this particular episode, the major character is Leela.  She contracts a horrible genetic condition called “squidification” that causes her to erupt with tentacles all over her body.  There is no cure – her only option is to live with the tentacles or to have repeated surgeries (very expensive ones) that provide temporary freedom from the tentacles, although they will soon grow back.

This could go either way.  It could be a moral tale about the questionable ethics of genetic engineering.  It could be a distinct lesson about how all of these horrible genetic malfunctions keep occurring in humans.  It could be a fable about how GMOs have gone wrong and how our food supply has become irrevocably tainted. It could be a treatise on the illnesses that have been linked to the consumption of GMOs or the horrible environmental costs.

Or it could be one giant advertisement for the biotech industry, portraying them as heroes and the saviors of mankind and planet earth.

Here are a few references – let me know if these sound familiar:

Momsanto :

A” floating genetic-engineering facility. It floats because if it were on the surface its experiments would be illegal.” (source)

Collasus: 

“Because Mom considers ordinary beans tiny and pathetic, Momsanto spliced elephant D.N.A. into their chromosomes for added heft. Thanks to Leela’s D.N.A. sample, the beanstalks started to have suction cups to keep them from collapsing. This unlocked a cheap, abundant source of nutrition for the world’s starving masses, which should make Mom a much richer woman.” (source) Earth: (One world government, military and currency)  Earth’s government is a planet-wide democracy … Although frequently invaded by Alien forces, Earth seems to be a military power to be reckoned with… Zapp Brannigan is responsible for protecting the world from various alien invasions as well as expanding Earth’s territorial claims…. Much like American money, Earthican currency depicts presidents…. (source)

In the episode, Leela and the Genestalk, Leela is very much against genetic modifications and DNA experiments.  She even tries to destroy the facility. In the end, wrapping things up in a warm and fuzzy fable-style ending, she changes her mind when she discovers that her “squidification” can actually be cured by…you guessed it…genetic engineering.  Because Leela’s tentacles and the DNA thereof have helped to modify the giant beanstalks that Mom is creating to “feed the world”, Mom rewards her by curing her squidification. Well, gee.  Maybe genetic engineering isn’t so bad after all. It’s pretty clear that the makers of Futurama have sold out and Monsanto was the highest bidder.

Selling out is the compromising of integrity, morality, or principles in exchange for personal gain, such as money. (source)

I wonder what the going rate is to have a subtle brainwashing message inserted into an entire episode of a popular TV show viewed by a couple million people these days? This isn’t the first time Monsanto got airtime on the show.  In the episode called “The Butterjunk Effect”  the butterfly derby contests were held at the “Monsanto Yokel Dome” and Monsanto is the sponsor of the “Goofy Gopher’s Revue” at Luna Park.

Television is a very effective medium to change perceptions because of the very way it works on the human brain.  Melissa Melton of Truthstream Media  wrote:

Type ‘television’ and ‘low vibrational energy’ into a search engine, and it’ll quickly return the fact that watching a lot of TV is like undressing your mind and submerging it into a bath of negative energy. TV effectively numbs the left side of your brain and renders you helpless to your right brain which is incapable of decoding and critically analyzing the information being presented to you. Essentially, you go on ‘auto-pilot’. Thus, everyone is put into a hypnotic state that author Wes Moore says, “produces highly functional, mobile ‘bio-survival robots.’” There’s a reason he dubbed television an “opiate of the masses“.

TV programs us. We tune in, drop out and stop asking questions.

Some of Krugman’s more interesting conclusions from his 1969 TV brainwave research include:

  • “Internal Alpha responses can be stimulated by appropriate external rhythms or frequencies.”
  • “The time may come when the mass media may create special programs to help people modify certain attitudes or behavior.”
  • “This means that passively learned material has an important ‘advantage’ which some have also associated with so called subliminal perception, extrasensory perception, or hypnotism.”
  • “For early education there may be an opportunity to accept the fact that many children fidget in class, and that this interference with their attention is not to be blamed on parents, teachers, or the child. Mild drugging of these children, or training in relaxation through Alpha driving, may be dramatically helpful to their educational achievement.” [Emphasis Added]
  • “For public television there may be an opportunity to accept without shame the fact that it has taught violence to an entire generation. The clear store of television violence is not that a new generation is more violent but that the new generation knowsmore violence. The political consequences of this may yet be what some would call ‘good’ (e.g., pacifist).” [Emphasis Added]
  • “It is possible that the relaxed and successful character of passive learning can be enhanced by the artificial induction of Alpha rhythm, this with the aid of a flickering light.” [Emphasis Added]

Your brain on TV, ladies and gentlemen. It’s a basic form of mind control. (source)

Melton’s article provides links to an alarming amount of research that has been done for just this purpose – to change the perspective of the audience.  To brainwash you, to control your perceptions and to provide your opinions for you. (Check it out HERE – it’s an absolute must-read!) Monsanto already deploys social media warriors to attack those who criticize them. They have created a propaganda website to provide “GMO Answers.”  This company that wants to appear so benevolent hired an army of deadly mercenaries and is rumored to have even purchased the security company itself. With this in mind, is it any surprise that the most vilified company in the world today might use popular entertainment as a tool for targeting young people in the hopes of enhancing their tarnished corporate reputation?

Thank you to Dawn for bringing this episode to my attention!

Daisy Luther

Daisy Luther

Daisy Luther is a coffee-swigging, globe-trotting blogger. She is the founder and publisher of three websites.  1) The Organic Prepper, which is about current events, preparedness, self-reliance, and the pursuit of liberty on her website, 2)  The Frugalite, a website with thrifty tips and solutions to help people get a handle on their personal finances without feeling deprived, and 3) PreppersDailyNews.com, an aggregate site where you can find links to all the most important news for those who wish to be prepared. She is widely republished across alternative media and  Daisy is the best-selling author of 5 traditionally published books and runs a small digital publishing company with PDF guides, printables, and courses. You can find her on FacebookPinterest, Gab, MeWe, Parler, Instagram, and Twitter.

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  • If you’re offended by this episode instead of applauding it you’re fucking stupid. It’s called satire which is what Futurama is best at. They made a great episode making fun of Monsanto. If you knew Futurama at all you would know that anything associated with Mom is PURE EVIL and always designed to trick the population of the galaxy to either fork over tons of money (the episode for the EYEphone where its used to control the population and the movie-sode Bender’s Game where Mom Corp refuses to create endless fuel source and instead stick with fossil fuel for huge profits). Go back to high school and learn about satire again.

  • this is complete rubbish. 1969 studies on the effects of media? sounds like the out-dated hypodermic needle model of media consumption. this is laughable. obviously someone doesn’t understand satire

  • I totally appreciate the effort behind this article. Unfortunately, this situation has been severely misunderstood. Everything about Futurama is a satire including this episode and anyone that watches Futurama knows that. The “Mom” corporation is classically evil so comparing Mom to Monsanto is actually anti-Monsanto. The whole show is based on satire and irony and this situation is no different. This episode acknowledges genetic modification may be beneficial in some aspects but they are making a statement that Monsanto is ultimately an evil company by comparing it to “Mom.” This isn’t the first time the show has shown satire through Monsanto. This episode is on your side….maybe if you watched the show you would realize that.

  • Whether this show is satire or not, the audience watching this show is unlikely to look up information on GMO and Monsanto. Therefore making a show where genetic engineering is just another part of our society is disturbing. Young people are easily influenced and rarely do their own research. Maybe if the show had some information about the truth of genetic engineering and Monsanto at the end of it, or didn’t make the ending “happy” after genetic modification then I would see the argument. This is propaganda, pure and simple.

    • I think you underestimate Futuramaʻs audience. Futurama is definitely making an anti-Monsanto statement with this episode. You want propaganda watch the news.

    • Futurama’s audience probably consists of people ages 13-30, all with different frames of reference. Most of the audience has the ability to comprehend the satire correctly, taking into account that they watch Futurama regularly. Futurama isn’t even entertaining when you don’t understand the social commentary.
      And of course they don’t tell the truth or supply the audience with facts and real information about Monsanto, it’s a cartoon, not a freaking documentary.

  • Um, really Daisy? You have clearly misunderstood the message of that episode. As other have pointed out it has an anti-Monsanto message.

    I agree the people running Monsanto are doing quite a bit of evil (Note that it is individual people not “Monsanto” or “government” who are doing evil), but seriously, get a grip. They are not under every bed.

    • people making big money, do as they are told, as I did when in Nam, to question, is to die. Or lose all. greed…power…control.
      No, I dont know anything… I was there.

  • excellent article @ms. daisy

    your on target ~ fire for effect ([+])

    ‘MOAR INTELLIGENT HARD FACT BASED ARTICLES LIKE THIS PLEASE’

    my respect,

    ninao ;0P

  • Another fine bit of junk floating around the internet written by a person with only a small clue. Watching the show would have explained why it was brought back after 7(I think) seasons to Comedy Central. It is in it’s final season, and they decided to scrap Monsanto off their shoe. Not what you have surmised from watching 1 episode. Stick to the farm/food business.

  • This is how product placement works. It is all about making people familiar with something and making it seem normal to see that product. Clearly the author is familiar with satire – you people who are being critical are missing the entire point. You are still asleep and oblivious to the way this insidious brainwashing works – all because it is a show that you like you refuse to believe it. That makes it even MORE EFFECTIVE.

    Futurama is a product of Fox – the same Fox who refused to air a show about Monsanto’s rBGH – you can’t tell me that they aren’t trying to make genetic engineering mainstream. http://www.safelawns.org/blog/2011/05/the-corporation-reveals-how-much-control-monsanto-has-over-what-gets-reported-in-the-news/

    Keep sleeping…

    • umm… Futurama hasn’t been owned by Fox in YEARS, the current rights belong to Viacom. Even when it was owned by Fox, they took shots at their parent company ALL THE TIME. Ever since being picked back up by Comedy Central, they do it even MORE.

    • Not all product placement or familiarity is good. If it’s hammered into the audience’s head that a certain product is evil — as Futurama has done time and time again — then that’s negative product placement. I know you WANT to believe we’re being brainwashed — it makes you feel good about yourself. But in this case, there’s nothing positive Monsanto gets out of the jabs Futurama takes at it.

  • Seriously people, get a grip. You don’t need to worry about kids, they are familiar with satire and see it for what it is, a jab AGAINST Monsanto.

  • I don’t think anyone has the knowledge necessary to say the Monsanto is doing a terrible thing. There hasn’t been enough research done on GMOs to determine whether genetic engineering is really that harmful. Without genetic engineering, the number of people who are starving or go to sleep hungry every night would be much higher. If you don’t like GMOs, buy organic. Shop at Trader Joe’s, spend the extra money.
    Now, I’m not saying Monsanto is doing a good thing. Obviously there are going to be some pros and cons to genetic engineering. It’s inevitable. However, determining if we should take the bad with the good would require much more knowledge on the effects of GMO.

    • Chis, respectfully, tell that to my wife, and those dead from exposher to the biospray. I AM Robinson Caruso II…
      I speak truth… only truth I live on the main X island, And i fear no more. There is a REASON they are morphing the crops, a reason so scary I wont speak it, Daisy knows, as do many here.
      PREP FRIEND… PREP.. UR GONNA NEED IT.

    • Even though this was posted a while ago, I feel compelled to comment. I agree with some of what your saying, but the bottom line is they don’t know what the effects of all this GMO food is or will be. It’s great they can feed more people, but what happens if this stuff ends up being toxic or has unforeseen heath risks. They are using the general public as guinea pigs. There was, just recently, an article in my local paper about a farmer who just LOVED his GMO corn. Because it produced super sized ears and no weeds, he just couldn’t understand why anyone wouldn’t be for this amazing time saving breakthrough. That’s great for him, and if he wants to grow it fine, but I want it to be labelled so I can make the choice for myself. Which brings me to my next question, Why don’t they want it labelled? Ive read articles stating it would increase food cost. However, I think the real reason is they know that with the choice there would be people who wouldn’t buy it. It needs to be labelled so people can chose for themselves.

  • I have seen Monsanto pictured and mentioned on Futurama before. Like, within the first few episodes of the series. At least people will have heard of Monsanto and have a general idea of what they do (genetically modifying things) when they find themselves in a conversation with someone who is trying to educate them.

  • How I found out that GMO’s and city water had made me very, very sick, is one day I took a sip of water that came from my tap, and my face and hands started to tingle and burn. I said “Oh my god, it’s the water!” Just to make sure that I finally realized that it was this that made me sick I took another sip and it happened again. We have since added a reverse osmosis system to our kitchen and it never happened again. After doing on-line researches, I have totally been off of GMO’s also. A lot of my symptoms have left, which proves that it was the food and water. But I still am sick but to a lesser degree.
    If you think that satire is not a propaganda tool you are sadly mistaken. At first the cartoon seems anti GMO’s until the end where “mom” is able to fix everything. The Nazis and other totalitarian groups used media of their day to convince the masses. This is an old ploy being reinvented for today. Look it up for yourselves. Why do you think advertising is such a big business. It’s to have people buy their product.

  • Red ALERT! GOOD NEWS DAISY! monsanto SHUT DOWN ALL THE FIELDS CLOSE TO TOWN HERE….
    THANK ALL OF YOU!

    THEY CAPITULATED..BUT THEN, THEY ARE OUTNUMBERED..HERE
    DAM GOOD NEWS FOR ONCE

  • And so, TRUTH. This is how it IS. We have basically a “treaty” and understanding here with Monsanto. On the outside, the agreement is we know not for sure, and for reasons the wise know, have no way to present direct proof. SO, they shut down it appears{for two months} ALL the X fields close to population centers… Well, truth is they ARE powerfull, they can arrainge one to disapear, if they wish. Some things, ya have to balance. TO SURVIVE. So they made a concession, to appease WE THE HAWAIIAN NATIONS. Ok, fine. I told the CEO, i will no longer march. HEY..THEY CONTROL THE MEDICAL too… my wife just had her breasts cut off. How, what, would YOU do? Monsanto is protected under severe federal law. One can go by by long timy.. Oooo dont drop the soap… So, that is how it stands here. Our thanks to Daisy, and those connected to her, together, you brought attention, to something that many died and are dying from. But again, because I KNOW they monitor this site, As for me, I promised not to march against them. Sometimes, ya gotta do what ya gotta do to stay alive. Now, there are far more SERIOUS individuals, here, that will never give an inch, they are many, and…they keep the balance…keep honesty real. Great men, some of the Hawaiians. Real men. Some of the last.
    Respect to all

  • I forgot one fact, and the main think here, in the minds of all. Monsanto, puts millions into our economy. Without them, there would be horrible poverty. They brought a new good life to many here. Now, this is just fact. Men who before, could not afford to feed a family, now drive 50 g trucks, and have the money, to raise their kieki {kids} well, live in nice homes, be able to see the smile on their kids face, able to live the life I once lived. Money is freedom.
    I had to say this Daisy please print it. So, Monsanto has made concessions, they didnt have to, but it was a wise move. We are in a trade here, now all are concious, and they are changing their ways too. We must co exist.
    Many years of my life, I was that guy you saw on excavators, backhoes, I helped build this country, with sweat and blood and all my being, I was poisoned by pcb s, dam near killed me. Got nothing for it, but pain, and a great feeling of worth, I paid my dues. My kind are proud of our work. I am a master operating engineer. But im white, lol, there are few jobs, unless one wants to work over seas. Im old. I had a good life. Had it all. Im very proud of the young ones, you are fricken SMART! Scary smart many of you. Inside you, is right and wrong, good and evil…. Your choice, which one you are. Evil men rule this world right now. If some of the scientists, and those in the know are right, things are going to change. Daisy knows my mind. I wont speak about it..much…maybye…i dunno… lol..because what we are learning, many cannot handle. What we are watching, is beyond fear..twilight zone in fact. Many of you know somthin, well, just aint right. Look up.
    I have learned one thing in my years, what we dont know, far surpasses what we do know.
    When you see something, with others standing with you watching it, and you have no idea what it is, and some fear so much they deny their own eyes {still cant figure that out…coward?} Your life changes. Expeshially, when its a regular event. OOOO my lions and tigers and bears does NOT describe what the eyes see, the mind struggles to find answers..and so, the long trip unfolds, as a plate tec {had a big one new Z today}I have access to get to info, I have some electronic “things” as well as 10 years under my belt of near daily study. Heard and seen it all…learned how to spot disinformation, looked deep into the rabbit hole. Back 20 thousand years, history, is a gateway to truth. computers scare me, for your generation, and those to come, only the written word can be trusted, to hold and read a 100 year old book. I worry they will change history, thus molding minds to the truth they feel is best. So glad to be free! To be able to use my mind. found one can lose it too…
    Thanx for reading my rant…the truth, and love, are all that count.
    Love one another. Perhaps we can heal our country. Just letting people know, many of us care. no one, is alone. Soon, my generation will be gone, hopefully naturally. The young, own life, but few are aware of it. Stay free. Aloooha

  • Normally I’m all for Futurama but this episode was a total cop out, and no it does not make fun of Monsanto, it makes fun of people who are suspicious of genetic engineering. GMO’S for bigger better food sources! Feed the hungry! Yeah right. GMO’S are made to withstand larger and larger quantities of pesticides that it’s parent company creates. Monsanto thinks it can tweak a gene and then claim to own plant species that humans have cultivated for centuries. Case in point, Monsanto now owns 95% of the cotton seed in India, the price of seed has risen 8,000% since this mass takeover happened and currently 270,000 Indian farmers have committed suicide having lost everything including a future for their families. This shit is not funny. Wake the fuck up.

  • For the religious fanatic, there are only two options for those who disagree – selling out or knowing evil. There is no possibility to consider the other person or people might sincerely believe something different – it simply cannot be. So the fanatic creates elaborate schemes about selling out, drinking Kool Aid, being stupid – anything but actually disagreeing. Your entire article is a lesson in psychotic delusional extremist fanaticism. It’s no wonder you anti-GMO folks are considered freaks… you are.

  • The Yokel Dome is owned by sponsored by Monsanto, indicating that the evil corporate juggernaut still exists in the year 3012

  • Good day!
    I just watched the Butterfly Effect. As a die-hard, Futurama fan & having read all the comments, I’m split 50/50.
    Half of me leans: The satire is true (Mon/Momsanto = evil) & I know true fans get that.
    The other half is on auto-pilot! Ha!
    That’s the point. The point that there are very few TV shows that aren’t manipulated to either push a view of the writer/corporations/marketers or worse, desensitize you to horrible things.
    You’ve written a wonderful piece here & I would love to share it with my followers. I am abiding by your credit/link back. Thanks!
    midwesternplantgirl

  • well I am not on autopilot I knew right away that Monsanto got some air time. This episode is a reaction that March Against Monsanto. The cartoon company is the media giant’s best friend and they are all in bed with big agribusiness. The unsuspecting people could be fooled. It’s the same thing as the microchip implant in their hand to tell them what job they are going to do in the pilot episode from 1999. They always use cartoons to preach their tactics. Thanks guys for this wonderful article.

  • you know about chemtrails. Monsanto is using aluminum resistant crops. Why would they need to do that? Because they are spraying the whole world with chemtrails that is designed to eventually kill all the soil so that Monsanto has a monopoly on food. If Monsanto is not the one that will do it, doesn’t matter. John was given a revelation from God 2000 years ago that said that in the final generation there would be extreme famines. Revelation 6:6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

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