Why do we buy things we don't need? 2The economy of the United States is driven by consumerism. 3In fact, if everyone stopped buying things, the economy would collapse. 4So why don't people stop buying things they don't need and that often put them in debt? 5In other words, how is this consumer economy maintained? 6The answer is advertising. 7Without advertising, a consumer economy would not be possible. 2. Let's consider automobiles and automobile advertising. An automobile is a means we use for getting from point A to point B. The first cars were black, sturdy, and utilitarian. They were not created for luxury; they were created to serve a specific purpose: to get somewhere. Yet thanks to advertising, the car has evolved into an aspect of our personality. Think about it: would you willingly drive a Yugo when you could be driving a Lexus? Because we believe that what we drive says something about us, we change cars frequently and continue to pump money into the economy. 3. But how does advertising make us do this, if we logically know that we don't have to have a $30,000 vehicle to get us from point A to point B? The answer is clear: advertising makes us think that our image is affected by the auto we choose. If you see a nineteen-year-old male wearing dark sunglasses and driving a red Camaro, do you have a sense of what that person is like? Not really, but we do know what that person wants us to think he's like. He wants us to think he's cool. Wh