Why is advertising is manipulative and untruthful?

Of course, not all advertising is untruthful.  However,
all advertising is, by definition, manipulative.  The whole point of advertising is to
persuade people to buy a certain product.  In other words, advertisers are trying to
manipulate consumers into buying their
products.

Advertisers use a number of techniques to
manipulate their audiences.  One of the most common is to show some idealized lifestyle
or situation and imply that anyone who uses their product will automatically share that
lifestyle.  In the US, beer ads tend to imply that using their product will give a
person a fun lifestyle with lots of interaction with the opposite
sex.

Another common technique is implying that something
bad will happen if you don't use the product.  We see this
in the US with home security systems.  Their ads imply that your home will be invaded
and your family harmed if you don't use their product.

In
these ways, advertising tends to be manipulative and it tends to at least stretch the
truth in ways that will persuade people to buy a certain
product.