this post was submitted on 06 Apr 2025
1417 points (98.1% liked)

Mildly Interesting

19785 readers
103 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
1417
What If We Made Advertising Illegal? (simone.org)
submitted 1 week ago by sundrei@lemmy.sdf.org to c/mildlyinteresting@lemmy.world
397 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
[–] thevoidzero@lemmy.world 31 points 6 days ago (2 children)

I was on a car from ride sharing app recently, and there was a tablet in front of me playing ads continuously for the whole ride. Asked the driver to turn it off and he said, "I have to keep it on". I know it's not the requirement from the app, so honestly how dystopian is it?

The way things are going people can't afford anything and will have ads blasting in front of them for discounts.

[–] FunnyUsername@lemmy.world 28 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

this happened to me once and I gave them 1 star for forcing me to watch ads

[–] Tungsten5@lemm.ee 22 points 6 days ago (2 children)

I wouldve left an awful review, 1 star, no tip. Thats such shit to do. Fuck that guy.

[–] YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 5 points 6 days ago

Lol, almost no one tips as is right now.

[–] thevoidzero@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

Yeah. I didn't want to do immediately after the trip. But now I don't see the option to do it from the history of trips.