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What If We Made Advertising Illegal? (simone.org)

submitted 2 weeks ago by sundrei@lemmy.sdf.org to c/mildlyinteresting@lemmy.world

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The idea feels like sci-fi because you're so used to it, imagining ads gone feels like asking to outlaw gravity. But humanity had been free of current forms of advertising for 99.9% of its existence. Word-of-mouth and community networks worked just fine. First-party websites and online communities would now improve on that.

The traditional argument pro-advertising—that it provides consumers with necessary information—hasn't been valid for decades.

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[–] Thorned_Rose@sh.itjust.works 16 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

Oh please gods yes. Advertising is violence and even though most of my life is now ad free, I still can't avoid the advertising scourge being shoved into my eyeballs every time I leave my house. It would be a blessed weight lifted from my already tired brain to never see a single ad again.

[–] huppakee@lemm.ee 10 points 2 weeks ago

"advertising is violence" says so much about how we (the world) allow companies to behave.

[–] angstylittlecatboy@reddthat.com -5 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

"Advertising is violence???"

Anyone who says these kind of statements should be forced to watch an hour of gore.

Nobody who isn't knee deep in circle jerking leftist communities thinks you're clever. You can argue against advertising without trivializing worse things.