Can I be successful? What does it take to make it to the top of the social ladder? If I did, how would someone else know I’d made it? These kinds of questions – and their proposed answers – are at the heart of advertising. I want to shed light on the constant barrage of ads that beckon us to consume products from and give money to capitalist establishments. Advertisements condition us with the assertion that assimilating into mainstream American culture will bring success and equitable social status.