Never mind what theyre selling, its what youre buying

It never ceases to amaze me how much people buy into without even thinking...

Today I heard some people raving on about a low carb diet as if it was the greatest thing ever. I dont know why the millions of people on these low carb diets cant see that its just another diet like the many before it. Cutting Carbs as opposed to cutting fat, wow what a brilliant idea. The expression "Everything in moderation" is best for this situation. If you eat a balanced diet and exercise you probably wont need to go on a fad diet. It wont be long before cutting fat out of your diet is what youre "supposed" to do again.
anyway this is just a very stupid example of what I was thinking about...

A long time ago someone came up with the brilliant crux of marketing "create a problem and then sell a solution". I really have to commend the person who came up with that one casue it really is quite amazing that it was pulled off so perfectly. Its actually so far advanced from the basic concept that it is more like web. Here is a breakdown.

Fast Food/Junk Food<---You are too busy to cook for yourself, and processed food is so fucking good....you know you cant live without it.
+
TV<---Hours and hours of non-stop programming that provide you with commercials (which are really just public service announcements about new products. Isnt it amazing that they provide this service for us for free?? and cable is so cheap.) Tv also provides an alternative to exercise, a window into "celebrity" life and the the overall feeling of inadaquacy.
+
Magazines/Movies<----More unrealistic expectations for the general public.

But wait maybe not...you can be happy too if you just try out this new diet...it'll
work we swear...
by the way the diet industry is a multi-million (probably billion) dollar industry.

I know this all seems very simple and if youre thinking all this is so obvious that it needs not be stated then I commend you, but Ive had similar conversations with people who honestly never think about this stuff and amusingly enough find it rather profound. Most of those people are what you call consumers.