Capitalism started with the idea of free enterprise and competition. People made their goods, presented them to consumers, who based their decision to buy on their real need for the items and the quality of the products as they saw them. The products stood on their own, and early advertising was essentially a means of informing the public. Products were presented with messages about usefulness, quality, and durability. A blue jeans ad in an old Sears, Roebuck catalogue, for example, simply showed blue jeans in good, better, and best qualities. Then advertisers discovered that products sell better when the ads play to our insecurity about our desirability, sexuality, and lovableness. Over time, advertising shifted from extolling the quality of a product to associating its use with the consumer’s sex appeal. Show a cute teenager sticking her butt out in tight blue jeans, with an attractive guy looking at her, add a classy label, and you can triple the price of the jeans.
