This is an ABC podcast.

Hey, just letting you know, this week's episode is one from our archives, and it's a really

fun one, so take a listen.

When Prince Guman was a kid, he was obsessed with Nike shoes.

10-year-old me would have the best birthday in the world if mom or dad got me a pair of

Jordans or Nike Air Force Once as a kid. And that was because of all this music and the culture

that reinforces and talks about Jordans. You know, it's funny nowadays, if you want a mention of a brand into a song, you have to pay a lot of money for it.

But back in those days you didn't.

It was just part of culture and it showed up in verses.

It totally inceptioned me to want these products.

Beneath the cool associations, though, which are no doubt effective,

there's more going on in terms of how brands like Nike really target our brains.

Decades of neuroscience and psychology research have given them greater insights into how we form our preferences and make our purchasing decisions.

Nobody says, oh, I bought, you know, Nike's because I want to project the self-image of, you know, X, Y, Z.

This all happens on a sort of implicit level.

And by studying why we buy the things we buy and why we resonate with certain brands over others, we learn a lot about ourselves.

But is there a line we need to be wary of that, if crossed, lands companies in unethical territory?

You're listening to All in the Mind. I'm Sana Khadar. Today, neuro-marketing, the science and psychology of effective advertising, and when it all goes too far.

Thank you. of effective advertising and when it all goes too far. In 2009, researchers in New York set up a pretty funny experiment.

They wanted to know if people could identify the difference between duck patte and blended dog food.

The dog food was presented on a nice dish with some nice crackers and some garnishes,

something that appeared visually as if you, you know, receiving it as a five-star

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