Latest Advertisements Capitalizing on Anger

An article found in NY Times, delves into the emotion that is present in many ads today. Anger. In one commercial from Southwest Airlines, in reference to the cost of other airlines, the company is quoted as saying 'What have they been smoking? Apparently, your rolled-up $20s.' Southwest isn't the only company utilizing this strategy. Harley Davidson is using the tag line 'freedom and wind outlast hard times', and Jackson Hewitt displays images of taxpayers who didn't use their services 'angrily smashing or throwing things'. As the NY Times said 'The tone and attitude of the ads are part rant, part battle cry, part manifesto and part populist appeal.' In 2006 a Newsweek Article titled 'Unhappy Americans' they alleged that in a poll they conducted, 67% of Americans are unhappy. Are the advertisements based on marketing research accurately reflecting the mood of society today, or has this attitude changed?