16. Which of the following is not put forth as a criticism of advertising and brand names? Advertising manipulates people's tastes to create a desire that otherwise would not exist.

a. b. Advertising increases competition, which causes unnecessary bankruptcies and layoffs.

c. Advertising increases brand loyalty, causes demand to be more inelastic, and thus, increases markup over marginal cost.

d. Brand names cause consumers to perceive differences between goods that do not exist.

e. All of the above are criticisms of advertising and brand names.