We all know that our economy has been going through some tough times. This morning on CNBC, Pennsylvania Congressman Paul Kanjorski described the underlying problem as ‘our tendency to rush to excess.’ Examples of this run the gamut.  From the king of excessive greed Bernie Madhoff to folks on main street getting carried away with their credit cards.  The correction in the markets and a little restraint is certainly a good thing for the long-term health of our economy.

Interestingly enough, a Harris Interactive poll taken in March and April, found that 66% of US Internet users believe advertising agencies were at least partly to blame for the current economic crisis — because agencies influence people to buy things they cannot afford. Agencies ranked ahead of all forms of media and news, and way ahead of friends and family (although 46% of folks point the finger of blame at those closest to them).

A full one-third of folks surveyed said agencies have complete or a great deal of responsibility for the current economic crisis – more than 10% higher than print media which ranked next on the list.

Seduction is a powerful thing.  Human beings are not always rational decision makers.  Fear and peace of mind, desire and sense of belonging are just a few of the emotions that drive our decisions.  Emotional intelligence helps us see longer term ramifications of our short term decisions.  Yet short-term thinking prevails because it’s easier to do something today without worrying about what it might mean down the road.  And don’t we all want things to be easier?

Good advertising leverages emotional triggers.  I’m relatively sure, however,  that most advertisers aren’t in business to destroy lives by playing to emotions.  I’ll be the first to tell you that if you can’t afford something you don’t absolutely need, don’t buy it.  At least not now.  Try saving up and maybe you can buy it later.

Advertising agencies will continue to help clients inform the public about products and services.  We’ll try to target customers that are the best fit for the products and services we’re promoting – a process that looks at what folks can afford to buy (it’s a waste of money by the way to promote a product to someone who can’t afford to buy it).  In spite of this, some people will get carried away and spend more money than they have.  Desire is a powerful emotion after all.

In the meantime, world, feel free to blame the current economic crisis on advertising agencies.  If that’s too hard, go ahead and blame our agency.  Heck, blame me (you can email your hate letters to morenick@uncommonsense.com).  Just know that any advertisement we produce in the future will prominently feature the following disclaimer: “This advertisement is promoting a product or service that may or may not be affordable based on your current or future financial situation.  While this product or service may be helpful, necessary or desirable, there may be unintended financial side effects caused by the purchase of this product or service – including but not limited to an increase in your personal debt-to-asset ratio, and headaches, nausea and other stress-related symptoms caused by your purchase in situations where you struggle to pay for it. You acknowledge that there are financial risks in purchasing any product or service and understand that the creators of this advertisement and the companies that produce this product or service cannot be held liable under any terms for decisions made by you that are out of our control.  If the purchase of this product or service causes symptoms of stress lasting more than four hours, please consult your financial adviser.”

Now that you’ve read this, please sign here and purchase away.