this post was submitted on 06 Apr 2025
1421 points (98.1% liked)

Mildly Interesting

20064 readers
1096 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
[–] Asfalttikyntaja@sopuli.xyz 4 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

There is state funded news media called European Broadcasting Union, which can do whatever without ads.

[–] Resol@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

Yet their flagship television program, the Eurovision Song Contest, is still being sponsored.

[–] CoffeeJunkie@lemmy.cafe -1 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Well, then broadcasters might be beholden to the whims of the government. Certain content might be promoted, and other content suppressed.

[–] Blueteamsecguy@infosec.pub 2 points 2 weeks ago

Because that absolutely doesn't happen now, it just removes the corporate middle man

[–] Asfalttikyntaja@sopuli.xyz 1 points 2 weeks ago

And if there’s corporate and ads, that doesn’t happen?