In a society where shopping malls have replaced parks, churches, and community gatherings, many people no longer take the time to meet their neighbors; people move frequently as if cities were products to be tried, like different brands of shampoo. These unfortunate events can be the result of many causes, one of them being publicity. Advertising is designed to arouse the desire to purchase goods and services, but it goes much deeper than that: advertising is an effective system of manipulation that distorts the mindsets of the people subjected to it. It shapes people's view of the world and distorts their connections to each other, distorting their personal values ​​and changing their view of others and themselves. So, in my opinion, advertising destroys any concept of community, common morality or deep connection. Advertising offers consumers products and services that they consider necessary to be loved, beautiful, happy and fulfilled. Without these “necessities,” we feel judged, excluded and criticized. However, these possessions make us hate ourselves. Subsequently, we lose our sense of importance and have difficulty accepting love and friendship from the people around us. We begin to escape meaningful relationships and commitments, choosing instead to fill our personal emptiness with the feelings we derive from our material possessions. Thus, the society in which we live reduces us to objects; it diminishes our personal relationships and presents relationships as transactions, only desirable if there is something to be gained. These ideas are reflected in John Kavanaugh's book, Following Christ in a Consumer Society, in which Kavanaugh creates a name for the American way of life: the "commodity form." The "Commodity Fo...... middle of paper ...... communicates and then, once in communication, begins to solve the problems of his home, his community, his nation and the world" (" Verdant » 49). Works Cited » Advertising Effects." Encyclopedia.org. Np, and Web. December 5, 2011. "Ethics in Advertising." Vatican. Vatican City, February 22, 1997. Web. December 5, 2011. .Heath, Joseph and Andrew Potter . Nation of Rebels: Why the Counterculture Became a Consumer Culture. New York: HarperBusiness, 2004. Print “How Consumerism Affects Society.” . Following Christ in a consumer society: the spirituality of cultural resistance, New York: Orbis, 2006. Print..