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Is the idea of free market obsolete?

One of the big budget items of corporations today is marketing: 1) Grabbing the customer's attention. 2) Convincing the customer they need a product. This seems to belie the notion of an informed purchaser, necessary to the idea of free market. So is the free market an illusion in modern mass media capitalism?

Public Comments

1. I would still say its free if for the sole reason that the customer still has the choice not to buy the product. I would also argue even in the case you are giving that nearly every product on the market is forced by law to provide the information for the consumer to make an informed purchase. McDonalds (and all the rest of them) for example is required to provide nutritional information on all their products. That they make the customer do a little work to find it doesn't change the fact that all the customer has to do is ask for it and he'll have the info. We simply get a little lazy on checking. But the free market still more or less exists.
2. Good point, but you're laboring under the assumption that most (if not all) people are brainwashed by the media and simply buy something because the media tells them that they need it. What about people who subscribe to Consumer Reports? What about the people who use the Internet to research products? And what about the people who see or hear the ads telling them they need to buy something but don't buy it? Granted, it's probably true that many consumers are not as well-informed as they could be, but most people I know don't bow down and obey the radio/TV when the ads tell them to buy something. It's also true that most people I know read up on the things they want to buy, they shop around, and they look for what they believe is the best deal. That fits the description of an informed purchaser, don't you think?
3. Free market is more a victim of mass media capitalism than it is an illusion, sadly by our own hand. When was the last time you didn't look at someone's newest gadget and said, I have to get me one of those, even if you didn't really go for it. The reason for any company to get started is to make money, regardless of mission statements, so obviously they will try to market their product to the most likely people to consume it, but it is still the consumer's decision whether he or she will buy or not.
4. The idea of it is an illusion because the trade market is dominated by a few. For example: Why is it that Africa has a tremendous amount of natural resources that are exploited by foreign nations who are enriched yet the continent of Africa remains largely colonized and impoverished? Its a rhetorical question but I hope you get the point.