Nice write-up! "Saviors" come in many forms indeed, and while a generally intelligent / skeptical person might think they're immune to this sort of manipulation from people or advertising, it's interesting to consider sometimes things can be false saviors too.

Just one common example: most people think money is the answer to all their problems, but I'm sure we've all seen and heard stories of people who win a lottery or become very successful only to find themselves still unhappy or unsatisfied. But people still put their faith and self-worth in their own riches, and are often willing to make great sacrifices to get more of it. In that sense, people can treat money as a "savior" too.

But of course, making money is part of a healthy life, it is not inherently bad just because some people have a warped perspective of it. Just depends on the person, like some people might have no desire for riches but look to drugs/alchohol to "save" them from something.