Marketing expert Mara Einstein reveals how modern marketing tactics mirror cult recruitment strategies. When she noticed the eerie similarities between the NXIVM cult and LuLaRoe's business practices, she began researching how marketers manipulate consumers through digital platforms. She breaks down why your late-night shopping sprees are no accident, how AI is making advertising even more deceptive, and why influencers function as "cult light" leaders guiding our purchasing decisions. Einstein, who appears in Netflix's "Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy," also explains why the current social media marketing model is unsustainable and offers practical tools for resisting manipulation in an increasingly predatory digital marketplace.

Grab Mara's new book Hoodwinked: How Marketers Use the Same Tactics as Cults here.

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