Need/require is so misleading. People just want to feel good more and feel bad less. So: -soft drinks taste good and the sugar/caffeine boost is nice (the lo

Need/require is so misleading. People just want to feel good more and feel bad less. So: -soft drinks taste good and the sugar/caffeine boost is nice (the low comes later so it's not as obviously associated) -alcohol is relaxing and loosens inhibitions, so it gives you something that normally takes a lot of willpower. If you're addicted (cigs too), it also relieves the withdrawal symptoms -cosmetics make you prettier, which makes people pay more and better attention to you, which makes you feel happy. In short, these products match up to psychological characteristics of people in general. The fact that these are multi-bajillion dollar industries shows that these psychological characteristics are in a whole lot of people.