Advertising fosters dissatisfaction, envy, and insecurity. It can make us feel unattractive, uncool, and unhappy with what we do or don't have. Our commercialized society places a strong emphasis on appearance, encouraging us to care about our own and others' appearances rather than about characters, talents, and personalities. Constant exposure to ads may encourage materialism and selfishness. This may make people less inclined to help others.
Statistics show that giving to charitable causes has decreased in recent years.
Similarly, there has been a decline in public support for government programs to aid the least fortunate members of our society. Corporate sponsorship may influence content and undermine the objectivity of exhibits at science and art museums. Ads take a lot of our time. The average person spends almost an hour a day reading, watching, or listening to ads through TV, radio, theaters, videotapes, newspapers, magazines, mail, or telephone. By the time the average American is seventy-five years old, advertising will have taken four years of his or her life.