7 ms·

I hate ads because they use psychological tactics in order to manipulate people into buying things they would not have bought or thought they needed to buy. I

I hate ads because they use psychological tactics in order to manipulate people into buying things they would not have bought or thought they needed to buy. I feel it especially disgusting when ads are target at kids who are most vulnerable to these tactics. I also believe ads are in part responsible for the low self esteem of many people and that they deepen feelings of inadequacy in all us.

anovikov 7y ago
True. I built a product and my partner "growth hacked" it, and eventually the algorithms he built resulted in merely targeting the most vulnerable audience: retirees. I felt so disgusted by it (we had no idea ourselves and definitely never planned for it) when we realized that nearly every person who bought it was 60+. Most of them never used the product, and felt too shy to ask for refund. That is the algorithmic optimization at it's worst: we did evil having no idea we were doing it. Needless to say, product still folded in the end.
- rolltiide 7y ago
  I think thats a dark secret of a lot of products. You disclose all this stuff to be “transparent and cool” and then your support inbox or forum is full of non native speakers and other people that fundamentally misunderstand everything said
  - anovikov 7y ago
    In the world of affiliate marketing it is indeed more common than not.
- JDiculous 7y ago
  What was the product if I may ask?
  - anovikov 7y ago
    A webinar platform.
    - karmakaze 7y ago
      I wonder if you could then approach it from the other side. Product market fit is hard, sales is hard. If you can find sales in a niche, develop your product to fit that niche. Could there be a market for communication tools for the elderly? It's a high bar to make things easy to use, and a very high one to make it easy for the elderly.
      - anovikov 7y ago
        Weirdly, about 10-20 people still use it for coaching and they seem to absolutely love the product. And yes, all of them are retirees. Although i have gave up on it long since (was abandoned for 8 months), maybe there's a chance? And yes that's out of about 900 people who bought. But only about 100 used even once, and only about 40-50 maybe used meaningfully, ever, so these customers almost don't churn.
- ecf 7y ago
  Congratulations for having empathy. Unfortunately, for every one of you there are twenty that would not hesitate to go straight to their nearest VC and pitch their newly-founded predatory idea.
  - pmoriarty 7y ago
    It's easy to blame founders and VC (and they certainly deserve a great share of the blame), but few of them could do anything without an army of supporters in the form of employees, and the sorry fact is that most of them have little trouble finding them. Look at companies like Facebook and Google. They thrive on advertising, and despite that and having a myriad of other ethical issues, plenty of people consider these companies to be some of the most desirable to work for in the world. How many Facebook and Google employees read threads like these and feel even the smallest pang of guilt? What percentage of those will actually take action based on what they know is right, quit, and go work for more ethical companies? There's a reason the internet is a cesspool of advertising. Most people would rather have a big fat paycheck than do what they feel is right, if they even feel that what they do is wrong.. which I bet most people who work for these companies don't.
austhrow743 7y ago
If the thing didn't exist then they wouldn't have bought it or thought to buy it either so I hope you level that disdain at anyone who makes things as well.
forinti 7y ago
Around Christmas, cinemas in my town show these ads which are designed to move you (children with their grandparents, family reunions in slow motion, etc). But they are shown in sequences of three or four. It starts to get ridiculous. It actually makes me laugh.
AnimalMuppet 7y ago
I read a description of advertising which really resonated with me: "Advertising attempts to make the person you are envy the person you could be with their product. In other words, they try to steal your contentment and then offer to sell it back to you." That's from memory, and I don't remember who said it, so I can't give credit where due. But I think it's a great description of what you're saying - that ads are killing our self esteem and self image.
- JacKTrocinskI 7y ago
  I think that quote captures the feeling I have towards advertisement completely, thank you for sharing that.

anovikov 7y ago

True. I built a product and my partner "growth hacked" it, and eventually the algorithms he built resulted in merely targeting the most vulnerable audience: retirees. I felt so disgusted by it (we had no idea ourselves and definitely never planned for it) when we realized that nearly every person who bought it was 60+. Most of them never used the product, and felt too shy to ask for refund. That is the algorithmic optimization at it's worst: we did evil having no idea we were doing it. Needless to say, product still folded in the end.

rolltiide 7y ago
I think thats a dark secret of a lot of products. You disclose all this stuff to be “transparent and cool” and then your support inbox or forum is full of non native speakers and other people that fundamentally misunderstand everything said
- anovikov 7y ago
  In the world of affiliate marketing it is indeed more common than not.
JDiculous 7y ago
What was the product if I may ask?
- anovikov 7y ago
  A webinar platform.
  - karmakaze 7y ago
    I wonder if you could then approach it from the other side. Product market fit is hard, sales is hard. If you can find sales in a niche, develop your product to fit that niche. Could there be a market for communication tools for the elderly? It's a high bar to make things easy to use, and a very high one to make it easy for the elderly.
    - anovikov 7y ago
      Weirdly, about 10-20 people still use it for coaching and they seem to absolutely love the product. And yes, all of them are retirees. Although i have gave up on it long since (was abandoned for 8 months), maybe there's a chance? And yes that's out of about 900 people who bought. But only about 100 used even once, and only about 40-50 maybe used meaningfully, ever, so these customers almost don't churn.
ecf 7y ago
Congratulations for having empathy. Unfortunately, for every one of you there are twenty that would not hesitate to go straight to their nearest VC and pitch their newly-founded predatory idea.
- pmoriarty 7y ago
  It's easy to blame founders and VC (and they certainly deserve a great share of the blame), but few of them could do anything without an army of supporters in the form of employees, and the sorry fact is that most of them have little trouble finding them. Look at companies like Facebook and Google. They thrive on advertising, and despite that and having a myriad of other ethical issues, plenty of people consider these companies to be some of the most desirable to work for in the world. How many Facebook and Google employees read threads like these and feel even the smallest pang of guilt? What percentage of those will actually take action based on what they know is right, quit, and go work for more ethical companies? There's a reason the internet is a cesspool of advertising. Most people would rather have a big fat paycheck than do what they feel is right, if they even feel that what they do is wrong.. which I bet most people who work for these companies don't.

austhrow743 7y ago

If the thing didn't exist then they wouldn't have bought it or thought to buy it either so I hope you level that disdain at anyone who makes things as well.

forinti 7y ago

Around Christmas, cinemas in my town show these ads which are designed to move you (children with their grandparents, family reunions in slow motion, etc). But they are shown in sequences of three or four. It starts to get ridiculous. It actually makes me laugh.

AnimalMuppet 7y ago

I read a description of advertising which really resonated with me: "Advertising attempts to make the person you are envy the person you could be with their product. In other words, they try to steal your contentment and then offer to sell it back to you." That's from memory, and I don't remember who said it, so I can't give credit where due. But I think it's a great description of what you're saying - that ads are killing our self esteem and self image.

JacKTrocinskI 7y ago
I think that quote captures the feeling I have towards advertisement completely, thank you for sharing that.