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> "Do you need a hat shaped exactly like a golf ball? At Dave's Golf Ball Hats we sell six sizes!" The implicit message here is buy buy buy. "There's cool hats
by packet_nerd 7y ago
> "Do you need a hat shaped exactly like a golf ball? At Dave's Golf Ball Hats we sell six sizes!"
The implicit message here is buy buy buy. "There's cool hats shaped like golf balls. Everyone's getting one! I need one too!"
Do I really need a hat shaped like a gold ball? Do I need any of the crap our materialistic society says I need?
Ads like this are trying to shape my expectations about myself, the meaning and purpose of my life, and what I need to feel fulfilled; and all for someone else's benefit, not my own. I have made it a personal goal to reject consumerism, and instead live a simple, sustainable, and efficient life. Rejecting ads (electronically blocking where possible, mentally blocking everywhere) is part of how I'm trying to achieve that goal.
Any company trying to sell me something that I didn't seek out myself is my enemy.
- crummy 7y agoYou can imagine a company that has come up with a product that helps people live more sustainably, and they want to figure out how to tell people about it. You didn't seek them out though; are they your enemy?
- packet_nerd 7y agoYes. So they are trying to tell me how to be more sustainable, and make a profit on the side? Which objective is more important to them? Edit: I believe that analyzing the biases and incentives underlying the choices and abstractions presented to us is an important part of what it means to be an intelligent human being. Ads are not reliable sources of information, as the company is incentivized not to inform you, but to sell to you. There are many better sources of good ideas than ads.