Staples — the office superstore — is running an incredibly annoying ad. It features a granny-type who apologizes for having personally knit Christmas presents for her family. She’s learned her lesson, she insists, and this year will buy all of her gifts at Staples, where you can get everything your family needs. I’m no lefty nor a “crunchy” con — huge difference there, I know. But the commercial still strikes me as a perfect example of how advertisers try to create demand in areas where it’s not needed. Then again, perhaps I’m just having a negative flashback to that pen/clock my dad once gave me.