As we have been convinced that paying twice the price of gasoline for bottled water which is just filtered tap

Question

water is okay, what else do you think that corporate America has convinced us to pay higher prices for just to generate profits? Are we becoming nothing more than lambs to the slaughter when it comes to believing advertising?

Answer 1

How about DEBT! I know lots of people who think that it's great to have a car payment and pay for everything else with the credit card. Banks spend billions of dollars a year trying to convince you that you NEED to have a good credit score to survive financially. It's sad that a lot of people buy into those lies and simply give up trying to use cash and save money.

Answer 2

Whenever someone sends you something in the mail, or calls you out of the blue on the phone, they are trying to sell you something. Our economy is based on petroleum and there is little we can do about it as a nation of independent spenders. Products and services are worth no more than someone is willing to spend on it.

If you can build a better mousetrap, the saying goes, the world will beat a path to your door.

If there is a better alternative to gasoline, we would all use it.

Profit is not a dirty word, however, and without profits, there is no incentive to continue producing - look at communism's failure.

Answer 3

Your first premise is flawed.  I pay 99 cents for a gallon of bottled mountain spring water.  Last time I checked, gas was 3 1/2 times the price of water.  And I don't buy filtered tap water.

But to answer your question, how about convincing us to eat cows which take more food to feed and grow than the food we get from cows - which humans were never meant to eat anyway.  How about the FDA who will not approve herbal medicine, herbs, and natural cures because there is no profit for big pharma in it.  How about the proposed national health care which will only drive up the cost and make the doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies and insurance companies even richer.  Shall I go on, or that enough sadness for you to dwell on?

Answer 4

Convincing people is known as 'Advertising' .. this is mainly aimed at getting them to buy overpriced goods they don't need (for example, Fashion)

Should this be successful, other sellers will be attracted to that market and competition should drive down prices ... plainly this does not always work - for example in the Fashion Industry, where high prices are part of the 'convincing argument' (if it's not expensive, it can't be Fashion :-) ) prices are not driven down by new entrants (indeed, many new entrants actually charge HIGHER prices !)

Since young consumers do not have infinite amounts of cash, they can not purchase ALL the goods being advertised .. thus they have NO CHOICE but to choose between the offerings and are forced to learn how to resist the vast majority of adverts .. regrettably not all children learn this lesson, especially if they have parents who give in to every 'I want ...' demand ..

... but the vast majority of adults are quite able to resist all forms of advertising - and I find that the older they are the more cynical they are ...

I am now so old (over 20) that I always assume the OPPOSITE of whatever they say in the advertisment .. example, when I hear 'Ours is the best' .. I assume 'Yours is the worst' ...

... however some adverts are actually very truthful .. when you hear them say 'Nothing is better than ...' .. they are telling the truth .. 'nothing' is indeed MUCH better !