Excerpt from Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Advertisements and Commercials


Advertisers use slick psychology and strategies, including

subliminal messages, to convince consumers to purchase their

products, whether they are needed or not, whether they are

healthy or not, and whether consumers have funds to pay for

them. They throw us a line, entice us with their bait, and then

they reel us in as their catch. Advertisements have a hold on our spending

patterns. Milton Glaser, author of Design of Dissent, says happiness in America is

linked to acquisition and owning things. The Great American Marketing Machine

devours this in an eating frenzy. And consumers do not have a clue this is going

on. We are being manipulated and duped into buying products.