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 try, like different brands of shampoo. These unfortunate events can be the result of many causes, one of which is advertising. Advertising is designed to encourage the desire to purchase goods and services, but it is much deeper than that: advertising is an effective manipulation system that distorts the mentality of the people who experience it. It shapes people's worldview and distorts their connections to each other, distorting their personal values ​​and changing their perspective of others and themselves. Therefore, in my opinion, advertising destroys any concept of community, common morality or deep connection. Advertising offers consumers products and services that they believe are necessary to be loved, beautiful, happy and fulfilled. Without these “necessities” we feel judged, marginalized and criticized. These possessions, however, make us feel self-loathing. As a result, we lose a sense of our own meaning and struggle to accept the love and friendship of the people around us. We begin to avoid meaningful relationships and commitments, choosing instead to fill our personal emptiness with the feelings we get from our material possessions. Therefore, the society we live in reduces us to objects; it belittles our personal relationships and paints connections as transactions, advisable only if there is something to gain. These ideas can be found in John Kavanaugh's book, Following Christ in a Consumer Society, in which Kavanaugh creates a name for the American lifestyle: the "commodity form." The “Commodity Fo...... middle of the card ...... communicates and then, once communicated, begins to solve problems in one's home, community, nation, and world” (“Verdant” 49). Works Cited"Advertising Effects." Enciclopedia.org. Np, nd Web. 5 Dec 2011. “Ethics in Advertising.” Vatican. Vatican City, 22 February 1997. Web. 5 December 2011. .Heath, Joseph and Andrew Potter. Nation of rebels: why counterculture has become consumer culture. New York: HarperBusiness, 2004. Print."How Consumerism Affects Society." Verdant. Np, 2002. Web. December 5, 2011.Kavanaugh, John F. Following Christ in a Consumer Society: The Spirituality of Cultural Resistance. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2006. Print.