Do Adverts make you Gullible?

Alice in Blogland has raised a really fascinating topic.

I suppose the common thread through many of my posts is the call to action for 'critical thinking' in order to defend your ability to make choices on your own terms and not those who wish to take advantage of you, and I totally recognise the concerns that Alice has regarding the detrimental effects advertising might have on people's health and by implication perception of 'blog quality'

I also sense an implied assumption, that there are those of us who feel that 'blogs' are social dialogue vehicles and not commercial vehicles and 'ner the twain shall meet'. I think forcing a polarity here is worth thinking about maybe...My friend likes gardening and she sells surplus tomatoes.

Of course, advertisers deploy the techniques of applied psychology in the hope of creating a competitive and commercial advantage, and you only have to browse through any of Kevin Hogan's books to glimpse how we can be influenced and persuaded when our guard is down. After all advertisers are tapping into our basic needs for food, safety, advantage and pro-creation. Surely however there is the potential (and personal responsibility?) to become more aware of the influence others can have on us. Blindly accepting, for instance, that a person in a white coat is 'authority' and 'scientific' when in actual fact they are an actor is exactly what toothpaste manufacturers want us to believe.

I have some sympathy with argument that adverts might be bad for your health. (although this is quite a generalisation as some adverts provide un-biased information, choice and have altrusitic motives) I nevertheless agree with those who point out that the continuous drip -feeding of messages into our sub-conscious can affect us (why else would they do it?) What the reinforcing impacts must be on 'day -time' TV addicts of images of people in financial difficulty I don't know. Consumerism is founded upon creating a dissonance between your present 'state' and a desired 'state' and implying through advertising that you are 'unattractive - unless..', and 'poor parent - unless..' etc etc. In some cases this must be detrimental to mental well-being as living in a permanent state of 'believed' inadequacy must surely lead to depression?

So should blogs be 'ad free' and 'why'? What are the fundamental assumptions we are making upon which our position is based? What are the qualities of a 'good' blog in this regard?

Are Social Networking sites the 21st Century equivalent of TV's ersthwhile role as the 'Idiots Lantern'or might we able to develop our critical faculties to such an extent that we can actually 'choose' to click on a link or not.

If you are interested in exploring more on the where the 'blame' might lie for determining the quality of a good or bad blog why not check out Blogging To Blame...oops that was an advert :)