guest_ · 3 years ago
At their core I don’t have a problem with them. It’s a big world and there’s so much a person could miss out on if they weren’t made aware of it- and to be honest, don’t most of us “advertise,” if we have a skill or make something new or learn something- don’t we usually tell people? You might say “but that’s not blasting it to strangers to tell your family and friends...” it’s not. But don’t people put up signs for yard sales and lost pets or when they are offering piano lessons? How would you know the nice lady in 305b will teach you German for $20 an hour, and how would that lady get the money she needs to pay her rent without ads? And what if social media and even meme sites? Places where people advertise their wit or humor and so on- “I have something people might like.. here it is...” you could say that isn’t for profit- but that’s not always the case, and in 2020 it’s a touch hard to draw a line between “profit” and not.
guest_ · 3 years ago
I would say that the biggest problems with ads aren’t ads. It’s the people who make the ads. Obnoxiousness and such. They aren’t telling you “we made this new car. This is what is good about it. We think it looks cool...” “here is our new skin cream, it does this. The way it is different is this...” more often ads are trying to be as in your face as possible and they often aren’t trying to show you what they have that might fill a need you have- they are trying to create a need. They are trying to manipulate you and use emotions and instincts and gimmicks to convince you that you need something that you otherwise wouldn’t buy.
guest_ · 3 years ago
To me that’s the problem- when ads aren’t just giving you information to make your own decision but trying to manipulate you into making a decision the seller wants- and probably even a bigger problem to me...
guest_ · 3 years ago
The ads are bad because the products are bad. They have to create a need in your life because instead of king a product to fill an unmet need or do better than an existing product- it’s very common that people create products, goods, services- which they then create a need for with advertising and market politics. They wheel and deal with other companies to define spaces where they don’t compete. Without competition even if someone wanted to improve on an existing offering it becomes next to impossible- and we get stuck with the lazy efforts of companies that don’t have the same pressure to innovate as they would in a market driven by consumer needs with freer competition.
guest_ · 3 years ago
So we get obnoxious ads for useless products that we are being told we are supposed to want or need, and the more we become desensitized and savvy; and the more we reject useless and obvious greed (much as millennials have developed a rap for “killing” obsolete and greedy industries and businesses), the more obnoxious and intrusive ads get. It is easier to manipulate people, to find new ways to push peoples buttons and reach them, than it is to continually improve products and services and such. Most rich people get rich by not caring what they have to do to get rich (to a point.) If being obnoxious could put $100,000 or more on your pocket... most people would do it too. So ads in concept are fine. Ads as they often exist and the things they represent make me somewhat.... a mix of things including disgusted and angry.
guest_ · 3 years ago
There is a sad irony though. Those obnoxious ads making rich people rush are the same ads that so many small and independent businesses rely on to supplement their incomes and keep the doors open. So many websites or games wouldn’t exist or wouldn’t be free/cheap if they didn’t get as kick back from bigger fish. That’s the not so secret- there is an odd reliance between the ones hawking crap and us. We rely on their crap. Their money helps make our world what it is. If they all vanished/ things would get mighty uncomfortable for a lot of people real fast. They rely on us to buy their products obviously, and to keep them relevant. If people just decided they didn’t want to pay huge sums of money to watch adults play children’s games really well- FIFA, NFL, etc etc- gone overnight almost. With tens of thousands of perhaps even hundreds of thousands out of work. From agents to marketers to sports casters to stadium workers and players, trainers, people working to make the equipment etc
guest_ · 3 years ago
Much like ecosystems, our society and economy are complicated systems and changes can have all sorts of unforeseen or not considered results. I could go on. There are human elements- the first kid in the family to graduate college with a degree in marketing, landing their first big ad and proud and ready to show it off to mom or whoever, the teachers who teach marketing and blah blah. All these individual people who can be affected- and then you also have to remember that most of us actually enjoy ads. Certain ads. Some people watch the super bowl just for the ads. Nowadays you can usually stream the ads and skip the game- and people do. You’ll find tons of bodies of classic and current commercials and ads on YouTube with tons and tons of hits from people just watching the ads because they enjoy it or because it brings back memories or has special meaning from association with something on their life.
guest_ · 3 years ago
If the choice is no ads or the current state of advertising though- I’d probably think as a culture we’d be better off without the ads. It the older you get the more cavalier you can be about such things- you have less chance of facing the consequences of things go bad, and decisions that would cause long term hardship or immediate hardships of the type that primarily affect younger folks, they’re easier when you don’t have to worry about being the one who spends your formative years or your prime slogging through crap to rebuild so the guys after you can live through “the good times.” But if the choice isn’t binary I’d rather subvert ads than destroy them or pointlessly deface them.
funkmasterrex · 3 years ago
I started hating this site the moment I had to pause adblocker but I'm a carckhead for ya'll.
If I ever get pissed enough I can go chase squirrels; but some of you actually do care about.
funkmasterrex · 3 years ago
Shut it up I got this shit Denice, I'll menace this Dave guy all the time with sentences that make no sense til i get em into a dissect and strangle like a python; toss the mic gone; shit's gone, don't resist Dave.
funkmasterrex · 3 years ago
Smoke a pound with Em and Snoop; perhaps share it around and save a dog from the pound?