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> Advertising is almost pure rent-seeking; it's a horribly inefficient solution for the actual utility component it provides society. disagree. as much as it p
by leetcrew 9y ago
> Advertising is almost pure rent-seeking; it's a horribly inefficient solution for the actual utility component it provides society.
disagree. as much as it pains me to admit it, I do actually think advertising benefits society. imo it's kind of like democracy in that it's the least shitty system we've devised so far.
there's a lot about it that seems suboptimal, but what alternatives do we have? people can't be seriously expected to read third-party reviews for every single product they buy; it simply takes too much time. plus, depending on the product, there may not be any reputable reviewers, or the reviewers could be getting paid behind the scenes anyway.
ultimately it's a lot better to walk into the store at least knowing what the different brands are supposed to mean. if I go to whole foods, I can be pretty confident that the food will be better than what I can get at walmart. if I want the cheapest food, I can expect to find it at walmart. when a choice between products is of low-moderate importance, advertising/branding saves us a lot of research.
- hyperbovine 9y agoPeople could simply buy less shit. Problem solved.
- Buge 9y agoThat would be better for the environment. Unfortunately people buying less stuff would cause a recession. The economy moves because people buy stuff.
- robotresearcher 9y agoNo, that’s the broken window fallacy. The economy moves because we invent more efficient ways to do things. Buying and selling stuff we don’t need is not good for the economy.
- Johnny555 9y agoBuying and selling stuff we don’t need is not good for the economy. Is that true? It seems that the entire economy is based on people buying stuff they don't need. Does anyone really "need" a 60 inch 4K HDTV? The average car costs $33K -- do people really need a $33K car, or could they get by on a $12K economy car? Do people need a 2500 sq ft luxury house, or could they get by on a 600 sq ft spartanly furnished shack?
- robotresearcher 9y agoIf you ignore food, housing, healthcare, transportation, energy and the government & security sector, sure. But then you're ignoring most of the economy.
- Feniks 9y agoYou could eliminate advertising altogether AND PEOPLE WOULD STILL BUY SHIT. Only now products would have to compete on their own merit instead of billions in brainwashing. No more brand power.
- hyperbovine 9y agoWell, that's not what I said. "less" != "none".
- philipodonnell 9y agoIt would be nice if they just went back to before the whole "sell people a fantasy of what their life would be like with the product" but don't focus on the product at all. I don't need an ad to know if my life will improve after buying something. Just tell me what the thing is and if its a good price and I want it I'll buy it. Leave the subliminal stuff out.
- nathanaldensr 9y agoI agree. It's yet another instance of the continued rise of hyperbole in society.