The 1950s were marked by great suspicion about advertisers and their potential persuasive powers. Do you see any lingering effects of this era of paranoia in attitudes about advertising today?

Yes I do.

Explanation:

The 1950s were a time of great fear to people in the developed world. They feared that as the Cold War was just beginning, there were being watched by foreign powers and that they couldn't trust a lot of people because they didn't know who was who. Especially in America where the fear of Communism gripped the nation. They did not know if certain adverts were Communist Propaganda and they feared that sometimes the information government's had about them was used to Target them.

This fear is still quite evident today. Take the 2016 Election rumours for instance. Certain Social media platforms claimed that foreign powers used their sites to advertise the President and get him elected. The ease by which this was accepted showed that people do indeed still have fear advertising.