zlacker

>>smnrg+(OP)
As much as I dislike advertising, I'd be very opposed to a ban on it. That would be too heavy of an infringement on free speech, and would eliminate the legitimately good things that advertising can do. And that's not even beginning to address the trickier-than-it-seems question of "what counts as advertising".

I'd prefer to see specific abusive practices banned rather than a blanket ban of advertising itself.

>>JohnFe+44
What are the legitimately good things that advertising can do?

>>gogurt+2g
From the public's point of view, informing them of solutions they may not have been aware of.

From the advertiser's point of view, finding the people who have the problem their product or service addresses.

Both of those are things that are valuable and not harmful. In practice, advertising rarely does the first. Instead, it acts as a kind of psyop. Also, most advertising engages in numerous abusive acts which make any possible benefits moot.