Your Power | Advertisers Love You

Corporations know you have spending power. Because of that, they spend more than $12 billion a year marketing to you. Lots of people say advertising doesn't affect them. But the average American sees between 20,000 and 40,000 ads a year. Whether you realize it or not, seeing all of these ads affects all of us and influences the ways we buy things.

Advertisers are great at getting us to buy stuff even when we don't have a good reason for getting it. Here's what a famous advertising executive once said about how companies try to get kids to buy stuff:

Advertising at its best is making people feel that without their product you're a loser. Kids are very sensitive to that. If you tell them to buy something, they are resistant. But if you tell them they'll be a dork if they don't, you've got their attention.

You see ads on TV, buses, buildings, and even people (how many T-shirts have you seen with a name brand on the front?) Find out what marketing techniques advertisers use to grab your attention and get you to buy their products.

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