Someone once observed that people live by stories, including nations, and that if you can control people's stories, you don't need to control their armies or legislatures, because you already control their minds and hearts. In the US, television tells most of the people most of the stories about most of the world most of the time. Never do we see ads for simple living, or for future generations, other species, the rain forest, the ozone layer. This medium is far too powerful in shaping our collective consciousness to ignore. Let's talk more about future generations.
Children have an interesting role in our reactions to consumerism.
On the other hand, many adults are turned off by kids' materialism. Many people are opting to work and earn less primarily to gain more time with their children. As boomers begin to downshift and cut back, advertisers are turning more intensively to children. A recent report documented efforts to gain brand name identification among children starting at age two. I think parents are buying things for their kids in part out of a sense of fear about the future.