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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.

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[-] heavydust@sh.itjust.works 278 points 2 years 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.

[-] Goun@lemmy.ml 87 points 2 years ago

"what if you don't know about the effects of a drug that could save your life?"

lol what? No way anyone says that with a straight face

[-] heavydust@sh.itjust.works 89 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

5 minutes ago on Hacker News, among a lot of stupid stuff like "your life is empty without having ads all around you."

Reference for fun: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43596333

[-] WanderingThoughts@europe.pub 46 points 2 years ago

I love that in Cyberpunk 2077 they're is often a channel on called "just ads". Of course in pure cyberpunk style those ads can be horrific.

[-] comfy@lemmy.ml 6 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

There are shopping channels in many countries (or at least paid cable television) which are literally just ads. In classic cyberpunk style, it's a reflection of the dystopian present.

[-] Kanda@reddthat.com 0 points 2 years ago

That's not an ad, it's the "Scamming old people by phone" show.

[-] brbposting@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 years ago

They’re on HN acting like Googling and getting WebMD is uüuber rare

[-] saltesc@lemmy.world 58 points 2 years ago

When I watch a US sport, I'm blown away that the ads are all medical, banking/insurance, cars, and maybe fast food. It's so weird.

[-] OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca 25 points 2 years ago

Don't forget personal injury or liability lawyers.

[-] deranger@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 years ago

What’s a normal selection of sports ads look like elsewhere?

[-] JJROKCZ@lemmy.world 11 points 2 years ago

Every time I watch premier league it’s just gambling ads nonstop lol

[-] saltesc@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

I was going to note it down as I was watching F1 at the time of writing that comment. There was a kids hospital charity, a food charity, a car, other sport, and a travel/tourism ad.

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.

Wow, even if we imagine some different situation where information about a new development, service or creation is needed, that's what reviews and journalism are supposed to cover, not advertisement. (In b4: the observation that those have tragically been becoming more and more indistinguishable from advertising.)

[-] lemmyng@lemmy.ca 15 points 2 years ago

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?"

If only there was a system of interconnected knowledge bases where new information could be published and indexed for easy lookup... Nah what am I saying, who would have interest in such a thing...

[-] comfy@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 years ago

Don't be silly, no-one knows what a library is these days! They're all stuck on that internet thing.

this post was submitted on 06 Apr 2025
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