ABSTRACT
Americans live what author Leslie Savan has referred to as sponsored lives.1 Virtually every facet of life in the United States now comes with sponsorship of some sort. From the radio programs we listen to and the television programs we watch to the clothes we wear and the leisure activities we pursue, we are surrounded by commercials. According to Savan, television-watching Americans see about one hundred commercials a day.2 Add other commercial venues such as billboards, shopping carts, clothing labels, and city buses, and the number of ads that clamor for attention from each American reaches 16,000 a day.3
