Mildly Interesting

20064 readers

962 users here now

This is for strictly mildly interesting material. If it's too interesting, it doesn't belong. If it's not interesting, it doesn't belong.

This is obviously an objective criteria, so the mods are always right. Or maybe mildly right? Ahh.. what do we know?

Just post some stuff and don't spam.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

marcar@lemmy.world

Jimbabwe@lemmy.ml

WhatsHerBucket@lemmy.world

1421

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

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

390 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

I would like meaningful regulation on advertising. Something to the effect of "STOP BLASTING MY FACE WITH ADS EVERY CHANCE YOU GET YOU SCUMFUCKERS"

There is a gas station nearby who runs non-stop unmutable (there is no mute button) ads. I don't go to that gas station anymore.

[–] swelter_spark@reddthat.com 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

If you push the second button down on the right-hand side, it'll usually mute them, even if it isn't labelled to indicate that.

[–] lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 2 weeks ago

Nope.

When I said "unmutable", I meant it. I tried all of the buttons, the screen itself, and even looked for a hidden control or something. Nothing. It was playing ads when I arrived, it played ads while I filled up, and it continued playing ads when I left.

The only reason I didn't just outright leave in the first place was because I was running on fumes.