It's pretty crazy that we allow ourselves to be bombarded with the psychological attacks that are advertising. Ads use pictures of food or sex appeal that manipulates our lizard brains or social attacks to convince us to buy products we don't need. If you pay close attention a large percentage is for negative sum products like unhealthy and addictive fast food.
"Don't need" is relative though. Just like the term lizard brains. They're both simple models. There are lots of cases where ads will sell you things you will need, just like there are lots of cases where humans make wiser choices than lizards.
If you want to defeat advertising, you have to acknowledge this side, otherwise you underestimate its brilliance and role in human wellbeing and productivity. Until you can carry its strengths forward without its weaknesses, it will keep propagating as the solution with no end in sight.
"They don't have your best interests in mind" is also relative. Keep in mind the diversity of clients who have or receive money to buy ads, from advocacy groups to attorneys involved in ecological litigation to your local bookstore to a new credit union in your area to a fast food chain to a complete out and out scammer running worthless seminars.
Part of the deal is that they still get to work from incentives on their end. But this alone doesn't rule out your interests or even your best interests.
The subjective beauty of this is that depending on who you are, even the seminar scammer might be both obvious AND the best news you've heard all week, because you have been waiting for a specific opportunity.
BTW I really recommend watching Harrison Ford in The Mosquito Coast. There's a bit of a diamond of truth buried in the story, kind of an anti-anti-ad message that is really important to consider.
