What if we banned all advertising? Not regulate it—abolish it. This proposal would transform manipulation machines, and maybe save democracy itself. A thought experiment worth considering.

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.

  • LarmyOfLone@lemm.ee
    1·
    18 days ago

    Thanks, those statistics are definitely more extreme than I imagined. I still would imagine that smartphone or TV you’d get more “new product review” shows because there is a demand and it’s (somtimes) cheap content to make.

    • FinishingDutch@lemmy.world
      2·
      18 days ago

      I’d certainly love a good show like that. We used to have a lot of those back in the 80’s and 90’s. They’d test all sorts of gadgets and gizmos that weren’t available yet to consumers in Europe, much less your actual city. You’d see them test the latest camera that might be available ‘summer next year’ or something to that effect.

      It drove stores up the wall back then, trying to keep up with stuff people saw on TV that simply wasn’t and wouldn’t be available there.