Michael Jordan has come out with a new ad campaign touting his new sneakers for sale. From an advertising standpoint, it is a beautifully crafted story, narrated by Jordan himself, about how his basketball riches were earned by him, as opposed to some God-given talent or luck. A debatable theory, but OK. As compelling as the message is delivered, it still is about a really expensive pair of sneakers marketed to many who cannot afford them.

I have worked in advertising, and I have studied advertising in College. If I can get swept into a 60-second storyline, I know there are millions of people being drawn in not knowing what is hitting them. Make no mistake. You can see all the "NBA Cares" commercials, courtesy of the NBA's PR machine, but there is no excuse for selling sneakers at such outrageous prices.

The creative element of the advertising business, the people I worked with back when, are sharks. Don't be fooled by the funny or interesting ads you see on TV. These people that create the ads were some of the smartest, most clever people I have met in my work life. People who have studied the psychology of what makes you buy, and more to the chilling point, what sets you off emotionally. They care about this: what makes you unhappy, upset or uncomfortable enough to change your buying habits.

See, the key to an ad that works for an advertiser is not one that amuses or entertains you, although that is the means to the end for advertisers. The ads have messages in them. Not some voodoo or hex that gets put on a person. However, the message is one that unless you watch for them, you will never notice them. It is subliminal, meaning that the points are being made, but an untrained eye will take the message in and be unaware that a kind of brainwashing is taking place.

For example, an ad that has a sexy woman watching a guy drinking a certain type of alcohol, has several messages underlying. The woman, hottie no doubt, is checking the guy out in a bar. The brand of alcohol is seen as a mechanism to attract the woman, and although this is never stated, it is certainly implied. The inclination of getting sex from this hottie is also implied, with her watching the man drinking his beverage of choice.

Who is watching this ad? People sitting at home watching television. By that definition, most of what you see on ads will show people having more fun than us, doing more exciting things (driving a cool car that you can buy, going on a cool vacation, eating tasty food) than we are doing at that moment. It ignites a switch in our brains (at least that's what advertisers hope). One of longing, needing… wanting.

That want is what separates people from their cash, especially those in many cases that can least afford the product. I was taught that these groups are good targets, as they are more easily swayed, are less educated in the ways of Madison Avenue, and are the most ripe for such picking.

Advertisers craft 30 or 60-second stories. On the surface it entertains, but below the surface they are made to bulldoze you emotionally. Watch ads as an informed consumer, and watch what I mean. How many sexy, toned, tanned, rich, happy people do you see on these ads, as compared to who you see in real-life today. Everyone having the time of their lives, drinking, eating, enjoying. No one doing the laundry. No one is drunk off their butts from the beer, no one in debt thanks to gambling, and on and on.

I grew up poor. I didn't know I was poor growing up, because all of my friends were in the same boat and we were happy. The first sign that there was a class system came when I went to junior high school, and then high school. Places where what you had on was much more valued than who you were.

Today, I know kids who do buy $200 sneakers and live in poverty. I know women who buy Coach handbags for several hundred dollars and make less than $10 an hour. How can they afford it? There is a simple answer: they can't. When the ends don't meet and the numbers don't add up, there is one word that arrives. That word is, "debt."

Debt has put our society in a chokehold. Consumers have been duped into getting the message that what is wanted is actually needed. There is a huge difference between the two. You need to eat, to drink, to be clothed, to have a roof over your head. You do not have to pay premium for any of it unless you wish to, or more to the point, should do only if you can afford it without being crushed by debt.

The next time you see a luxury vehicle passing by, wonder how that person came to drive such a car or SUV. Odds are they are paying heavily for the privilege. I am not against having nice things. I am against people buying luxuries they cannot afford, fooled by Madison Avenue that they are less good-looking, less of a person, less than they are should they not have such an item.

These types of underground messages are in many ads, and I urge you to watch not just with your eyes open, but with your mind open. They are experts in this and they are sharks. Be careful when swimming with sharks, even on your sofa or easy chair. I guarantee you will never watch commercials the same way again.