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What is the appropriate middle though? Think about alcohol culture. Should we ban beer commercials on TV? Only allow beer commercials with talking frogs rather

What is the appropriate middle though? Think about alcohol culture. Should we ban beer commercials on TV? Only allow beer commercials with talking frogs rather than attractive young people having fun?

munk-a 5y ago
I'm honestly baffled over why beer commercials are considered socially acceptable - but then again I think that advertising (in our modern interconnected world) only ever serves to drive overconsumption. If you want a beer - you go to the bevy and pick out a beer you'd enjoy... if I'm watching TV and the TV tries to make me want a beer - that's not a good thing. Good advertising[1] is limited to making sure your product is visible in comparison to competitors - having shiny cereal boxes is something I find pretty meh, but in the cereal aisle you're dealing with someone who wants to buy some kind of cereal and you're trying to convince them to buy yours. TV Advertising drives up demand for products which, by definition, means we're consuming more of that product than we otherwise would... that's great for business... and it's also great for the obesity epidemic. 1. What I'd consider to be ethical advertising, but that's like my opinion man.
- hunterb123 5y ago
  It's fine, only piss water beers advertise anyway.
- erosenbe0 5y ago
  I agree but I'd imagine the beer companies would argue with your substitution standard for advertising that any drink or even consumable product you can put in your mouth is a competing product. So then no drink commercials, and you've reduced the capital available to fund TV, and you have a domino elimination of economic activity. I mean, ideally we could allocate all the capital we put into manufacturing, selling, and consuming beer into fitness or math education or something more harmonious with wellness and human achievement; but hey, plenty of great scientists and inventors love beer.

munk-a 5y ago

I'm honestly baffled over why beer commercials are considered socially acceptable - but then again I think that advertising (in our modern interconnected world) only ever serves to drive overconsumption. If you want a beer - you go to the bevy and pick out a beer you'd enjoy... if I'm watching TV and the TV tries to make me want a beer - that's not a good thing. Good advertising[1] is limited to making sure your product is visible in comparison to competitors - having shiny cereal boxes is something I find pretty meh, but in the cereal aisle you're dealing with someone who wants to buy some kind of cereal and you're trying to convince them to buy yours. TV Advertising drives up demand for products which, by definition, means we're consuming more of that product than we otherwise would... that's great for business... and it's also great for the obesity epidemic. 1. What I'd consider to be ethical advertising, but that's like my opinion man.

hunterb123 5y ago
It's fine, only piss water beers advertise anyway.
erosenbe0 5y ago
I agree but I'd imagine the beer companies would argue with your substitution standard for advertising that any drink or even consumable product you can put in your mouth is a competing product. So then no drink commercials, and you've reduced the capital available to fund TV, and you have a domino elimination of economic activity. I mean, ideally we could allocate all the capital we put into manufacturing, selling, and consuming beer into fitness or math education or something more harmonious with wellness and human achievement; but hey, plenty of great scientists and inventors love beer.