There's a cream for that
I find myself getting burned more the older I get too. Still have hope, though.
As for "Neuro-Linguistic Programming", thankfully it's been repeatedly disproben to the point of being a pseudoscience. Concerning the science of advertising, the rise of interconnectivity means information about and against these methods once they become known - and they will become known. Information wants to be free, after all.
When things look bad, check the numbers. Crime reports are going up, but that just means more people are speaking out about what's already there. Literacy's up, education's up, and people who are willing to speak out and act are up. I'm not old yet, but numbers like these help keep it that way.