Classical Conditioning--Can it really work?

Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning, first discovered by Ivan Pavlov in 1904, involves learning relationships between events in the environment. Eventually, Pavlov observed, behavior changes because of changes in events organism is experiencing. The process of classical conditioning first begins with an unconditioned stimulus, one that produces an automatic response. In Pavlov's experiment, this was the food he brought out to the dogs. Then, there is the unconditioned response, which is the response to the unconditioned stimulus and does not need to be learned; in Pavlov's experiment, this was the salivation in the dogs caused by the food. The next step of the process includes the introduction of the conditioned stimulus, which is the extra stimulus the experimenter brings in to the experiment; it is a previously neutral stimulus that produces a conditioned response after its association with the unconditioned stimulus is learned (in Pavlov's experiment, the conditioned stimulus was the metronome before the food is brought out). Finally, the conditioned stimulus elicits a conditioned response, which is produced after the conditioning is learned (in Pavlov's, this would be the salivation in response to the metronome). Soon, the conditioned response becomes an automatic response. Classical conditioning is important because it still plays an important part in everyday life. For example, higher order conditioning occurs when one develops a conditioned response to a conditioned stimulus by associating it to another conditioned stimulus. This may help in the world of advertising, so that when one says "Coke" on a hot day, we think of Coke quenching our thirst and want to go buy a Coke. This also helps explain addiction to cigarettes or other drugs. If one goes to a place where they have previously smoked a cigarette, they may feel inclined to smoke again, thus causing the cycle of addiction to continue. I find this process of classical conditioning fascinating; how do we not realize we are being conditioned? How can something that sounds so simple cause us to change our behavior? Here are a couple funny examples of how Pavlov's classical conditioning works:

http://youtu.be/WfZfMIHwSkU

http://youtu.be/Eo7jcI8fAuI