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It may be "many" but it does not mean that the defining nature of advertising is ethically neutral. I think I just quote Banksy/Tejaratchi: "People are taking

It may be "many" but it does not mean that the defining nature of advertising is ethically neutral. I think I just quote Banksy/Tejaratchi: "People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you're not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen and they bully you with it. They are The Advertisers and they are laughing at you. You, however, are forbidden to touch them. Trademarks, intellectual property rights and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like wherever they like with total impunity. Fuck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It's yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head. You owe the companies nothing. Less than nothing, you especially don't owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don't even start asking for theirs." Edit: Credits also to Tejaratchi

arthurcolle 6y ago
This is such a great quote. I've checked out a couple books on Banksy but haven't ever run into it before. Thanks so much for sharing!
Teever 6y ago
One time I saw a fascinating article about how scientists were working to grow skin complete with natural looking hair from stem cells for burn victims and such. I thought the article was really neat and I was in a hurry so I emailed a the link to myself. The next time I logged into my gmail to read it I happened to be at a machine without adblock and I saw that google was serving me ads for garbage treatments for male pattern baldness. Fuck you Google and your shitty advertising. There's nothing wrong with going bald and I don't need you to try and make me feel insecure about my hairline when I'm trying to read about scientists helping burn victims.
- dna_polymerase 6y ago
  The ad probably promoted a product that could regrow hair for bald people. You just took that B̶a̶n̶k̶s̶y̶ Sean Tejaratchi quote and applied it to them. You chose to be offended by it. Sure baldness isn't wrong. But a lot of people like hair better and therefore a market exists for this type of product. Nothing wrong about that.
  - Teever 6y ago
    Repeated viewing of these kinds of ads is precisely what introduces the insecurity in people that makes them seek out the kinds of products being advertised. It's the same thing with skinny models and anorexia in girls. Advertising is the cause of the 'problem' that they can conveniently solve. Besides some of these 'cures' for baldness have alarming side effects and there should be regulations around advertisement for these products. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-merck-propecia-suicide-exclusive-idUSKBN2A32XU https://www.reuters.com/article/us-merck-propecia-suicide-ex...
- lupire 6y ago
  Why are burn survivors unacceptably ugly to you, but baldness survivors are acceptable looking?
  - Teever 6y ago
    I used to deliver food to a burn unit in a hospital. I'm not going to deign this question with a response.
  - throwawayboise 6y ago
    "Baldness surviviors" That's a new one for me on the victimhood trivialization scale.
- BeetleB 6y ago
  > Fuck you Google and your shitty advertising. I really don't get this response. Since very soon after Gmail launched, Google has been very open and public about mining user's emails to serve ads to them. This isn't some kind of dark pattern. There was a lot of fuss, to the point of politicians threatening to hold hearings about it. And then people sign up for Gmail and complain about the ads. I can understand complaining about cookies tracking you all over the Internet, and how hard it can be for the average Joe to avoid them. But Gmail and their ilk? It's trivial to use something else.
hiq 6y ago
> I think I just quote Banksy Banksy is not the original author, Sean Tejaratchi is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Tejaratchi#Crap_Hound https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Tejaratchi#Crap_Hound https://i.imgur.com/D0pTs.jpg https://i.imgur.com/D0pTs.jpg
- beefield 6y ago
  Thanks, I edited my post to include credits to Tejaratchi. Not sure how this should be done properly, as that specific quote is from Banksy, so I just left credits for both.
dvfjsdhgfv 6y ago
Please note that all these examples from the quote refer to a certain genre of ads targeted at the general public. Many teach ads I see are completely different. I often click on ads for microcontrollers for example, and I have't yet seen one I would find offensive in any way. They don't make me feel small and unworthy, on the opposite: the make me feel empwered. So it's really about the content of the ad, not advertising itself. Advertising is crucial for everyone. When you have a product or service, you need to advertise it. Even if you choose not to buy ads, you need to find another way, organic or not, to make your project known. If you don't have a products/service yourself, you work for a company who has, and there are very few lucky enough not to need any advertising (because e.g. they secured long-term goverment contracts already etc.). We should focus on how to make advertising human again rather than destroying it completely.
- beefield 6y ago
  Note that the quote originates from the 90's, way before ad tech as it is currently known. Advertising is a bit like finance. There exists an important, tiny core that is surrounded by a massive amount of activity whose societal benefit is doubtful at best.
  - lupire 6y ago
    That's not just ads or finance, that's all of capitalism. (If I'm good at programming I have to convince a farmer its in his interest to give me food, even if he doesn't need my software.) And communism has its own problems.

arthurcolle 6y ago

This is such a great quote. I've checked out a couple books on Banksy but haven't ever run into it before. Thanks so much for sharing!

Teever 6y ago

One time I saw a fascinating article about how scientists were working to grow skin complete with natural looking hair from stem cells for burn victims and such. I thought the article was really neat and I was in a hurry so I emailed a the link to myself. The next time I logged into my gmail to read it I happened to be at a machine without adblock and I saw that google was serving me ads for garbage treatments for male pattern baldness. Fuck you Google and your shitty advertising. There's nothing wrong with going bald and I don't need you to try and make me feel insecure about my hairline when I'm trying to read about scientists helping burn victims.

dna_polymerase 6y ago
The ad probably promoted a product that could regrow hair for bald people. You just took that B̶a̶n̶k̶s̶y̶ Sean Tejaratchi quote and applied it to them. You chose to be offended by it. Sure baldness isn't wrong. But a lot of people like hair better and therefore a market exists for this type of product. Nothing wrong about that.
- Teever 6y ago
  Repeated viewing of these kinds of ads is precisely what introduces the insecurity in people that makes them seek out the kinds of products being advertised. It's the same thing with skinny models and anorexia in girls. Advertising is the cause of the 'problem' that they can conveniently solve. Besides some of these 'cures' for baldness have alarming side effects and there should be regulations around advertisement for these products. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-merck-propecia-suicide-exclusive-idUSKBN2A32XU https://www.reuters.com/article/us-merck-propecia-suicide-ex...
lupire 6y ago
Why are burn survivors unacceptably ugly to you, but baldness survivors are acceptable looking?
- Teever 6y ago
  I used to deliver food to a burn unit in a hospital. I'm not going to deign this question with a response.
- throwawayboise 6y ago
  "Baldness surviviors" That's a new one for me on the victimhood trivialization scale.
BeetleB 6y ago
> Fuck you Google and your shitty advertising. I really don't get this response. Since very soon after Gmail launched, Google has been very open and public about mining user's emails to serve ads to them. This isn't some kind of dark pattern. There was a lot of fuss, to the point of politicians threatening to hold hearings about it. And then people sign up for Gmail and complain about the ads. I can understand complaining about cookies tracking you all over the Internet, and how hard it can be for the average Joe to avoid them. But Gmail and their ilk? It's trivial to use something else.

hiq 6y ago

> I think I just quote Banksy Banksy is not the original author, Sean Tejaratchi is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Tejaratchi#Crap_Hound https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Tejaratchi#Crap_Hound https://i.imgur.com/D0pTs.jpg https://i.imgur.com/D0pTs.jpg

beefield 6y ago
Thanks, I edited my post to include credits to Tejaratchi. Not sure how this should be done properly, as that specific quote is from Banksy, so I just left credits for both.

dvfjsdhgfv 6y ago

Please note that all these examples from the quote refer to a certain genre of ads targeted at the general public. Many teach ads I see are completely different. I often click on ads for microcontrollers for example, and I have't yet seen one I would find offensive in any way. They don't make me feel small and unworthy, on the opposite: the make me feel empwered. So it's really about the content of the ad, not advertising itself. Advertising is crucial for everyone. When you have a product or service, you need to advertise it. Even if you choose not to buy ads, you need to find another way, organic or not, to make your project known. If you don't have a products/service yourself, you work for a company who has, and there are very few lucky enough not to need any advertising (because e.g. they secured long-term goverment contracts already etc.). We should focus on how to make advertising human again rather than destroying it completely.

beefield 6y ago
Note that the quote originates from the 90's, way before ad tech as it is currently known. Advertising is a bit like finance. There exists an important, tiny core that is surrounded by a massive amount of activity whose societal benefit is doubtful at best.
- lupire 6y ago
  That's not just ads or finance, that's all of capitalism. (If I'm good at programming I have to convince a farmer its in his interest to give me food, even if he doesn't need my software.) And communism has its own problems.