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What's more ephemeral than an ad? What do ads cost our culture, in their creation and in the time wasted viewing them? A seldom-addressed question for somethin

What's more ephemeral than an ad? What do ads cost our culture, in their creation and in the time wasted viewing them? A seldom-addressed question for something which has somehow become so predominant.

briandear 8y ago
Those ads represent something though. They represent a product someone built. An ad, is a manifested from the creation of a thing. Ads are the result of someone creating value— the ads themselves may not be intrinsically valuable, but they represent something that is. We have more ads because we have more stuff to sell. Lamenting ads is lamenting the very things we have produced. Ads are a symptom of a successful economy. Not much advertising happening in North Korea, not much value being created there either.
- gbear605 8y ago
  Many negative things are symptoms of our successes. For instance, there wouldn't be drunk drivers if cars had never been invented, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't have cars!
- staticautomatic 8y ago
  The production of "stuff" is not inherently good.
- jniedrauer 8y ago
  > Ads are the result of someone creating value Consumption by itself does not add value to society. It's arguably harmful. Corporate profits do not directly add value to society. Once again, they are arguably harmful (excess productivity being siphoned off, etc). Ads drive unnecessary consumption. Do you think our society would be better, or worse, if soft drinks had never been advertised? Or how about cigarettes? Ads are neutral at best, and typically harmful.
- hoaw 8y ago
  Advertisements are pretty much messages trying to convince people to see something in a certain way. Surely North Korea has plenty of that since it is essentially their entire society. And the stronger the message the less substance. A lot of things advertised are either common goods like "buy this pizza instead of that one" or luxury goods like "you should pay more for this because you deserve it". Not a lot of advertisements for e.g. affordable housing or something else that could be very beneficial for society.

briandear 8y ago

Those ads represent something though. They represent a product someone built. An ad, is a manifested from the creation of a thing. Ads are the result of someone creating value— the ads themselves may not be intrinsically valuable, but they represent something that is. We have more ads because we have more stuff to sell. Lamenting ads is lamenting the very things we have produced. Ads are a symptom of a successful economy. Not much advertising happening in North Korea, not much value being created there either.

gbear605 8y ago
Many negative things are symptoms of our successes. For instance, there wouldn't be drunk drivers if cars had never been invented, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't have cars!
staticautomatic 8y ago
The production of "stuff" is not inherently good.
jniedrauer 8y ago
> Ads are the result of someone creating value Consumption by itself does not add value to society. It's arguably harmful. Corporate profits do not directly add value to society. Once again, they are arguably harmful (excess productivity being siphoned off, etc). Ads drive unnecessary consumption. Do you think our society would be better, or worse, if soft drinks had never been advertised? Or how about cigarettes? Ads are neutral at best, and typically harmful.
hoaw 8y ago
Advertisements are pretty much messages trying to convince people to see something in a certain way. Surely North Korea has plenty of that since it is essentially their entire society. And the stronger the message the less substance. A lot of things advertised are either common goods like "buy this pizza instead of that one" or luxury goods like "you should pay more for this because you deserve it". Not a lot of advertisements for e.g. affordable housing or something else that could be very beneficial for society.