//Inside the World of Advertising

Advertising is a billion dollar industry with one goal—to get you to spend your money. So how do advertisers convince so many people to buy stuff they don’t need? Here are a few of their tricks:

The Cool Factor. Advertisers figure no one wants to look like the class nerd, so they create ads that convince you that using their product will make you cool.

• The tip-off: Lots of pretty people wearing expensive clothes in ads
• Your move: Remember, buying products won’t make anyone cool, just broke

The Adventure Zone. Have you ever take a sip of your soda and experienced a rush like skiing down a hill or pipeline surfing? We didn’t think so.

• The tip-off: Commercials with exaggerated events that would never happen in real life
• Your move: Buy a soft drink if you’re thirsty. If you want to go skiing, buy skis

The Music Beat. Music has a powerful effect on people, helping to create memories and makes everything seem like one big party.

• The tip-off: A popular song playing in the background of a commercial
• Your move: If you like a song you hear in an ad, buy the song and skip the product

The Celebrity Sighting. Advertisers hope that if a cool celebrity endorses a product, you’ll want to be like them and immediately go out and buy it.

• The tip-off: A celebrity is telling the world how much they love a product they’d never, ever use
• Your move: Skip the product until the company pays YOU to endorse them