The most recent thing I bought myself that was not a replacement item or clothing was Bose's new headphones - the style that goes in your ear, not the large, airline-pilot variety.
What prompted the purchase was an ad I saw. Many, many ads, actually - on the subway, in magazines, on the Web. It took roughly two weeks from awareness to "type in your card's expiration date."
Yikes, what's that? An advertisement persuaded me to do something? Well, yes. I'm ...