A good post by Tom on dysfunctional relationships in marketing. He asks and answers:

OK. So, if markets are relationships, the question we have to ask is, "Can business relationships be something other than imbalanced, one-way, power-based, and pathetically needy? Can they be some or all of that stuff we talked about a couple of lines ago?" And, by the way, can the conversations that take place in those relationships please sound like something other than a freakin' Ovaltine commercial? Please?

Of course they can. That's what people want. Shit, they'll even pay extra to get it.