Advertisements are a scourge upon society, the environment, and ourselves. They are among the worst capitalism has to offer. Why not get rid of them?
Advertisements are a scourge upon society, the environment, and ourselves. They are among the worst capitalism has to offer. Why not get rid of them?
Any organised society will have people who want to inform other people about their product or service, it’s not something we can eliminate, we have to train people to be more resilient to them.
The article discusses this distinction at length. While some advertising does exist to “inform other people about their product or service”, the author argues that most advertising today goes beyond this to sell things that are not needed or even wanted by the consumer before the ads are viewed.
I think the author’s discussion of regulation on public advertising is valid - there are probably ways we can conitnue to allow PSAs or allow ads for non-profits, social services, staple goods, etc while restricting the worst kinds of for-profit advertising that has taken over our cities and media.