What if we banned all advertising? Not regulate it—abolish it. This proposal would transform manipulation machines, and maybe save democracy itself. A thought experiment worth considering.

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.

  • masterspace@lemmy.ca
    English
    2·
    3 months ago

    It’s also a form free market distortion that actual economic conservatives should hate.

    Rather than having firms compete for who can make the best product or service, advertising instead lets them compete based on who can best psychologically manipulate the population en masse.

    It’s a “rich get richer” mechanic that any halfway competent dev would’ve patched out for balance reasons a long time ago.

  • heavydust@sh.itjust.works
    1·
    3 months ago

    The web has been cleaned with uBlock Origin. Doing that IRL would be great. And for every stupid counter argument (I’ve seen those on HackerNews), I don’t tolerate brain washing.

    The most stupid argument I’ve seen is from an American who said “what if you don’t know about the effects of a drug that could save your life?” Well, that’s the job of the doctor. Your society has failed if you rely on marketing to eat random chemical dangerous stuff.

      • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
        0·
        3 months ago

        However that would work, i dont care. Open source software has next to no marketing and I’ve found it all through chat groups, etc.

        I’ve found my local super market and bakery simply by walking by

        I buy toothpaste by trying a few and sticking by one I like

        I never watch commercials, I don’t do advertising or marketing, and I’m missing out on nothing

  • O_R_I_O_N@lemm.eeEnglish
    0·
    3 months ago

    Just making billboards ads illegal. It would make every city and the places in-between instantly better

      • pelley@lemmy.world
        1·
        3 months ago

        The way the Maine law works, you are only allowed to have billboard-like signage (whether digital or old school) if it’s on the premises of the business. No off-premise billboards or screens are allowed. And digital signage must not be too bright or distracting for drivers.

    • Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world
      1·
      3 months ago

      Somewhere along the line I read a scifi book where “truth in advertising” laws were used to convict advertisers so they could be put in jail and used as involuntary organ donors. And I am sad to say I wouldn’t feel very sorry if that were a real thing. My hate for manipulative ads is so strong it overrides my hate for killing.