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Selling a product is a directly measurable memetic engagement. The exchange of currency is a verifiable transaction, and proof that a memetic event occurred. Magicians understand brand identification as sympathetic magic, a metaphor other books on marketing would bypass in favor of more psychological terms such as transference or emotional entanglement, however these various terms all describe the same event: A person buys a specific brand to associate themselves with the feelings and meanings the brand symbolically represents⁶⁶. These representations are very seldom accidental, instead they are carefully planned out by brand managers and account planners who are tasked with maintaining a specific image for the brand with the intention of creating this very response.

Brand managers know that while conscious emotion relates best to a narrative or story, unconscious desire works best with metaphoric association and juxtaposition. Advertisements show products with sexy models not because they want to convince you that using their products will cause models to flock to you, but rather to associate preconscious desire for the model with the product. They want you to transfer or sublimate your sexual desire into a longing for the branded product. People buy energy bars, basketball shoes and sports drinks to convince themselves and others that they are athletic. The product becomes a stand-in for actually working out; the desire to be healthy has been sublimated into purchasing a commodity.

Most marketers are actively trying to get their message to go viral. One of the most successful viral campaigns ever was the 'Where's the Beef' campaign from years ago, a phrase that still crops up now and again in daily conversation. Another, more recent phenomenon is the 'Got Milk' campaign, which has been subverted into 'Got _____' where blank's been filled in with everything from religious references ('Got Jesus?') to vampire references ('Got Blood?') to commemorating civil rights leaders ('Got MLK?') While this phrase appears to be marketing entirely different products as the message is changed, it's still summoning up the pre-conscious memetic structure of 'Got Milk' to those who've been exposed to the primary meme every time they encounter one of these derivative references. Even a partial distribution of your meme (such as 'Got Syrup' rather than 'Got Milk') predisposes people to accept the core message when they re-encounter it in a newly refined way later on.