I have always despised the advertising industry. I'm not the only one, because millions the world over have long recognised that the tired argument it always makes, about giving us 'the right to choose', is as inane as the campaigns it routinely vomits out for our collective consumption. This isn't an industry that attracts the brightest and best people; it is often a refuge for con artists who revel in their trickery the way people from Delhi revel in their ability to circumvent the law.

The latest reason in my long list of reasons for hating the industry is a fairly recent study by the University of Waterloo that tied our fear of death to the reason why we make poor choices related to the environment. At first, it seemed like a bit of a stretch. The more I read though, the more compelling it seemed. Apparently, we choose to purchase things like bottled spring water, not because there is any scientific difference between that and tap water (this doesn't consider water from Bombay, obviously, because the University knows nothing about how the BMC functions), but because we are tricked into believing it is a healthy choice that can help us live longer.