The ads we see are no longer just trying to sell us a product or service. They are selling us the promise of a better life—the answer to our despair. They’re trying to sell us hope. But we’re still coming up empty.  

The problem with popular media and advertising isn’t that they have the diagnosis wrong. The problem is that they are trying to fix an issue that is simply beyond them. We might get a pleasant sugar buzz from a bottle of Coke, but we’re not going to find the solution to what is wrong inside of us.