The entire premise of this article seems naive at a level I find hard to understand. Advertising can never be obsolete. Among other things it does these useful

The entire premise of this article seems naive at a level I find hard to understand. Advertising can never be obsolete. Among other things it does these useful things: - Informs or reminds customers of potential solutions to problems they have, may encounter in the future, or of benefits they need or desire. - Informs customers of improvements. - Build's brand awareness that a source of a product type stands behind the product's benefits with resources and their reputation on the line. - At its best, does this in a way that is informative, entertaining and/or uplifting even to non-customers. The problems of advertising to me all seem preventable and unnecessary at least at the individual companies' level. Show respect for all viewers, customers or not, and your brand is going to build a great reputation: No cluttered ugly, psychologically manipulative, advertising. Nothing that mucked up people's lives with more dreck. Keeping advertising constructive for everyone is a brand enhancing opportunity.