Consumerism... essay topic brainstorm?

I always found it fascinating how some companies fake supply and demand issues to make their product seem rare. The public always falls for it. In the 80s it was Cabbage Patch Kids, the 90s had Magic Cards and early 2000s was the Beanie Baby craze. These product were rationed out to stores and people were limited to the number of items they could buy each day. This gave the illusion of scarcity. But in fact the manufacturers had more than enough to go around, they took advantage of the public's desire to own something rare.