i'm half-way convinced that children were invented by marketers as leverage. probably overheard before the first kid was conceived:

"just think of all the money we could make, if we could just find a way to convince people that they want to buy our crap! something that'll make them want to stand in line for hours and spend all their available monies!"

"sure, that's great and all, but how are you going to get that 'something' integrated into their life? you've got to find a good hook, you know? some way that'll distract them - entice them, even - enough to take the risk of establishing our financial tap."

"any ideas?"