“It’s not exactly rocket science, is it? They’re just trying to sell you their products. It’s not like some of these current affairs programs, where you don’t know whether you’re getting propaganda or someone’s political bullshit.”
Those are the words of a participant in a study done in Australia about consumer’s perception of advertising. In this article, advertising is said to be more trustworthy because there is no hidden agenda as there can be with news media and politicians. Advertisers just want consumers to buy stuff. It’s simple. Not so simple are the reasons the Iraq war was waged, for example. Was it oil? Weapons of mass destruction? To kill a dictator? Or to complete a grudge held by the President’s father? We may never know. But we will always know the score with advertising. It’s blatant commercialism. Advertising will employ all sorts of trickery and less than respectable moral behavior but the net is very simple – please buy this product.
