>>>Most of the time, advertising is a parasite on just about everything.
>
>I guess we need some advertizing to know what's out there.

Some, for sure. When there's something new, I'd surely like to know what it is. But then advertising actually comes as a barrier to knowledge. Even when I'm in the store, holding the box in my hands, I can't get sufficient information from it. Can I hook this into my computer, does this clock have 24 hours or 12+12, how long is the cable on this headset, does this bread contain GMO, does this car have direct gas pedal or is it fully fly-by-wire, which version of Windowses does this require, does the scanner have a Linux driver... and in case I go to the manufacturer's website, the technical info may not be buried so deep under layers and layers of corporate image and stupid blurbs and soundbites, but then the price is.

> As for the rest: you're right that cynical marketers claim that more creativity and cost goes into branding/marketing than into product design these days. But they wouldn't do it if it didn't work.

The part that works is the advertising of advertising itself :). IOW, they have convinced their customers that they must advertise, and that advertising works.

> Just as tabloids feed the sensationalist desires of a certain audience along with firebrand politicians etc etc, branders/advertizers make their $ by feeding into a target audience's desire to be part of something cool, preferably with price being part of the barrier to entry. Unfortunately whether we like it or not is as nothing compared to billions of dollars of sales driven by branding at the expense of quality. Who cares if the shirt frays or fades as long as it has this season's cool logo? Such is life.

I care. I really don't wear anyone's logo unless I get paid handsomely. I even refused the frame for the license plate, unless they pay me to advertise their name. Since there are so many who'd do that for free, the talk was very short.

In case I failed to advertise my services, here goes: I'll watch anyone's ads for 75€/hr. I can take it.