Dove Promises More Than Chocolate

So during finals week I was very partial to chocolate. My roommate and I decided to go to Walgreens and buy some.

As I looked through the aisles of dots, kit-kats, and starbursts I rested on these Dove chocolates. On the shelf I had a choice. I could get the ones that are in the regular packaging or I could purchase the one's that say promises of hope that are packaged in support of breast cancer awareness.

I chose the ones that were in support of breast cancer awareness. Why did I do that? Why do I think it's better to eat those chocolates? I believed I would be a better person for purchasing that bag verses the regular packaging. I believed that I would be doing some sort of altruistic gesture by giving proceeds to breast cancer awareness.

How much does marketing play a role in what we believe?

I also watch the Freecreditreport.com commercials quite frequently on Fox News. I used to see them multiple times a day when I did my internship. I started to fear on a daily basis that someone would steal my identity. Could I really stop it by purchasing this product?

I feel that the best way to deal with commercial persuasion is to really think it out in your mind. Say I don't buy those chocolates...how much money is actually lost? Could I be helping more by directly donating to the foundation rather than buying the candy?

Onto the commerical, are there ways of stopping identity theft without using this website? What are some other ways of finding my credit report? How much does it actually cost per month? What if my identity is never stolen, wouldn't it cost more in the long run to have this monthly payment to freecreditreport.com?

So I did buy the chocolates, and at one point I also purchased freecreditreport.com. However, I got rid of my credit report subscription and realized that proper thinking can really prevent over priced commercial purchases.