When advertising becomes culture

In her book No Logo, Naomi Klein discusses what happens when corporate sponsors of cultural events become more important than the event itself. A recent example is the song "respekt for Grandiosa", a song from a frozen pizza TV-commercial that the ad agency decided to launch as a single.

The song has been number 1 on the charts for several weeks, and has beome immensely popular. Has advertising become culture, or is the song's popularity a result of smart marketing? While it is a catchy tune, the song would never have made it to number one without smart marketing. The advertising agency has really done their job well, but when advertising becomes culture, I get scared.

I don't want to live in a society where culture is whatever big business tells us it is. Where people are afraid to think for themselves, not because of brutal prosecution from a police state, but from fear that the trendsetters will disagree with them. Where people are no better than sheep, going "baaaaah" whenever the head sheep tells them to.

Unfortunately it seems that is just the kind of society I'm stuck in... Why can't people just start thinking for themselves?