If you want to get the one that really works, you just have to pay a few more bucks, to get the deluxe Buddha.
I once saw a full-page, full-color ad on the back cover of National Enquirer for a little brass Buddha with text that said something like "Are you down on your luck? Need a little extra cash? Just rub the Buddha's belly! Trying to lose weight? Just rub the Buddha's belly!" along with a number of testimonials about how this little brass object was changing people's lives. I can't remember the price of the thing; if memory serves it was between twenty-five and fifty bucks. But the point was, this was a full-page cover ad in a national magazine, and somebody was paying big, big bucks to have it there. Which meant, of course, that people were actually buying the stupid thing.
So yes, people can be easily brainwashed.
Anyone remember the Pet Rock?
Tons of people actually bought it.
On the other hand, there is scientific support for the power of positive thinking.