zlacker

>>iambat+(OP)
Advertising is a parasitic force on society. It sucks up your attention with a willful intention to change your purchasing behaviour, often knowing that the new behavior is worse for you.

If ads were merely about being informative, they would be boring. But ads want to manipulate, so they have to be flashy and appeal to your emotions.

They pollute your mental headspace, and have no place in a healthy society.

Let's ban billboards. And then let's follow that up with a general purpose ban on paid advertisement.

>>Taek+F1
I think this is deeply and fundamentally wrong.

Advertising is how small and new companies can reach customers. It's how monopolies are broken. It's how progress reaches the masses.

Yes, it is willfully intended to change people's behavior. So are many of our posts on HN. That is an important purpose for communication!

>>Burnin+T6
Ironically the companies with the most widespread advertising are the LARGE companies! They pollute our daily lives with stupid ads.

I’m really not concerned about the car I don’t have, the quality of my floor mop, or the latest prescription pharmaceutical that my primary care doctor is too stupid to even spell.

I really feel for the small companies. But outside extremely industry specific mediums, they just can’t afford to advertise much. They have to be known from reputation and search engine results.

So, while I see the point you are trying to make, by volume, the bulk of advertising is utter crap.

>>BobbyT+59
This doesn’t match my experience. Are you maybe talking about untargeted ads like in the Super Bowl?

My feed on social apps and youtube is very frequently filled with small businesses near me.