this post was submitted on 06 Apr 2025
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Mildly Interesting

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What If We Made Advertising Illegal? (simone.org)
submitted 2 weeks ago by sundrei@lemmy.sdf.org to c/mildlyinteresting@lemmy.world
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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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[–] TeamAssimilation@infosec.pub 6 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

OMG someone in the wild that thinks the advertising industry is about free speech!

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Idk how you got that dumbass idea. I'm pointing out that ads aren't the only thing that's propaganda and the kinds of consequences "banning all propaganda" might have. You can ban ads without also banning "propaganda." Words matter; especially when it comes to laws.

[–] Angry_Autist@lemmy.world 0 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Fuck off shill, all propaganda is manipulation and manipulation is unethical

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

I block every strawmanning asshat, you aren't allowed to put words in my mouth anymore