Oh, so advertising companies fit into methodological individualism? As if economic atomism wasn't developed in the nineteenth century, before there were all kinds of transnational corporations.
Forbes quotes a social scientist as saying, “Advertising is a business that tries to shape how people think about their choices. Neoclassical economics can explain ads only as providing information. But if the seller can invest in advertising that frames the choice, that frame will skew the buyer’s decision.”
The article goes on to say, "This is something that retailers have known for decades. If a company wants to sell more soap, you either make a bar that people like more (traditional economics) or display your soap at eye level—where people will see your brand first and grab it (this is what the behaviorists call 'choice architecture')."
So no, real-world advertising doesn't fit well in the dominant economic approach, because that approach is geared to whitewashing capitalism.
