Big business is the worst of course. They will do everything in their power to pry money out of your pocket. If you try to call their customer service and talk to them they say "yes, I understand" while they ignore what you called them for to give their various sales pitches. They will use all the powers of psychology and persuasion to sell things people don't need to people who can't afford it.
But politicians are not to far behind. Not the politicians personally, but the consultants they hire and slavishly follow. Emotion is the enemy of good problem solving, but political consultants realize stirring up emotions can lead to votes, so they stir away shamelessly. Every little issue becomes an apocalyptic threat to our nations survival. Issues that have no impact on most people are milked to stir up outrage.
And finally there are the Universities who have become all about marketing and image and bend the whole nature of education to accommodate the marketers. Required textbooks cost more than rent on a students apartment because they make professors lots of money and provide grist for the marketing mill. Tuition consistently rises far faster than the cost of virtually everything else in our world as marketing education takes a bigger and bigger chunk of the education budget.
Unfortunately the marketers are dominant because the are good at what they do. They know how to push our buttons, how to manipulate us, how to fool us.
If anyone ever developed an inoculation that protects against the wiles of marketers they would be doing everyone a big favor.
