People want to be happy. Today's media has placed a lot of emphasis on materialistic views regarding happiness. They tell consumers that the more expensive items they own, the happier and more successful their lives will be. One way the media instills this value is through advertising. Advertising companies try to exploit people's desire for happiness by influencing them to think that they need whatever product is being advertised to be happy. Another way the media reinforces materialism is by turning children into a commodity. This can have negative effects on children and teach them that it is more important to pursue material possessions rather than spiritual, intellectual, or cultural values. Research has shown that holding this view can have a serious negative impact on both mental and physical health. The pursuit of wealth and possessions as a person's primary goal is mentally and physically unhealthy and will not lead to happiness and fulfillment in life. People want to be happy. The late media philosopher Marshall McLuhan once said, “the constant pressure is to create advertisements increasingly in the image of the public's motivations and desires” (qtd. in Fowles). Advertisers target this desire by making consumers believe that only if they have this new car, new clothes, or new product will they be truly happy. It is this ongoing pressure from advertisers that drives our consumer economy. In the article “The High Price of Materialism,” author Tim Kasser postulates that the more a person values ​​materialism in their life, the unhappier they will be. (Remember to correct/redo this paragraph) Advertising companies today are manipulating consumers. (Add transition to sentence.) Ha... half the paper... they are more distressed. These negative feelings also manifest in episodes of depression and adverse physical symptoms. These materialistic people were more likely to engage in alcohol, drug, and tobacco use. There is a quote from Andrew Carnegie at the beginning of Kasser's article. Carnegie states: “To continue much longer overwhelmed by the cares of business, and with most of my thoughts entirely directed to how to make money in the shortest possible time, must degrade me beyond all hope of permanent recovery” (qtd. in Kasser) . Carnegie was an industrialist who amassed great wealth early in his life and spent his later years as a philanthropist giving it away. I think at some point in his life he realized that money would buy him happiness and decided to pursue different values. I think this is a great example that materialism does not guarantee happiness.