... even if advertising "only shifted demand around," ... Given the state of US consumer debt, you can make a convincing case that if this wasn't true 100 or e

... even if advertising "only shifted demand around," ... Given the state of US consumer debt, you can make a convincing case that if this wasn't true 100 or even 20 years ago, it certainly is true now. (Unless you mean the top 5% whose wealth is skyrocketing, of course; they could probably be convinced to spend more of it since they won't have to pay it in taxes any time soon.)