Frank Bruni of the New York Times weighed in this weekend on another arena of American life where form has overtaken substance. From the article:

Is all of this hot air [disingenuous political ads, quote mining, etc.] part of a broader climate of unprincipled hucksterism? As a country we’ve shifted emphasis from goods to services, manufacturing to marketing, and everyone natters on about the importance of brand rather than the quality of product — about the sell rather than the substance.