Young people are threatened... by the evil use of advertising techniques that stimulate the natural inclination to avoid hard work by promising the immediate satisfaction of every desire.

In this remark John Paul II warns that modern advertising can become morally corrosive when it trains people—especially the young—to expect effortless gratification. He frames the problem not as commerce itself but as the manipulation of desire: techniques designed to bypass reflection and discipline, encouraging consumption as a substitute for character, patience, and responsibility. The quote reflects a broader theme in his social teaching: authentic human freedom is strengthened by self-mastery and truth, while a culture of instant satisfaction can weaken the will and make persons easier to exploit. It is also an implicit critique of consumerism’s tendency to redefine happiness as immediate pleasure rather than enduring goods and virtues.