[beaconstudios]

ads are great at increasing the likelihood that you'll pick their product over the competition, and they might encourage people to impulse buy in the future. But there's no way an ad can get you to buy something you genuinely don't want. That's nonsense.

[Certhas]

And you're shifting the goalpost. I never said they get you to buy something you (genuinely) don't want, I said they create needs.

Seems like you don't seriously disagree with that either, just over-interpreted my original statement.

I would also argue the idea of "genuine" needs is a fallacy. Unfortunately one that is common in economic thinking. There is not fixed hierarchy of external needs that we want to satisfy one after the other. That's a really bad model for human consumption behaviour.

If all your friends start having something most people will find that they start wanting it, too.