4 ms·

I probably hate ads more than most people but when I hear or see an ad, it kills my willingness to engage with a business. I mean, this isn't entirely conscious

I probably hate ads more than most people but when I hear or see an ad, it kills my willingness to engage with a business. I mean, this isn't entirely conscious. I was thinking about whether my kid would like those creative boxes from KiwiCo that I heard good things about organically. Then, I heard an ad for them on a podcast, and I noticed a new extra resistance and hesitation to buy anything from them. I don't want to be a sucker for ads. I don't want to support businesses that support our ad-polluted world. With my limited capacity to donate directly to creative work (which I'd incidentally rather do as part of a coordinated general public than just unilaterally), I favor donating to those who forgo ads rather than reward or support anything that accepts ads. Now, I've hated ads for a long time. But I was still surprised how much I no longer feel fine considering KiwiCo. Now that I heard their ad, I feel like I don't want to be one of those people who is seen as following ads, and I don't want to support them. I imagine there's other products that don't budget as much for ads that I should go out of my way to seek out instead. So for anyone like me, if you do paid ads, you just harmed your credibility with me.

cwkoss 5y ago
When you notice a product being advertised, it means that part of the price of that product/service is being redirected from focusing on quality to manipulation. The amount something advertised is inversely correlated with value.
saulpw 5y ago
Ads work subconsciously. By the time you're looking for a new X and go shopping, you'll recognize company A making an X and it will register as a viable option, only because you heard about it somewhere--having forgotten that you saw their ad and vowed never to buy something from such a money-grubbing corporation. Also, basically everyone has to advertise these days, so good luck finding an X made by a company who doesn't advertise. If you do, in a year or two you'll be extolling the virtues of this wonderful product that you can no longer buy because the company went out of business.
- nitwit005 5y ago
  Have to disagree with the idea that you have to advertise. Word of mouth still dominates in many industries. Restaurants generally don't need to run ads, and even some chains like Krispy Kreme don't bother.
- exyi 5y ago
  At least it's not hard to find companies which don't advertise too much. I don't get angry by one poster on a tram, but I get really upset when an entire site is flashing with the ad, when the ad is an outright lie, ... And I'm certain I remember (at least some of) those. I hope I'm not alone, voting with wallet seems to be our only way out of ad-ridden world :/
  - stubish 5y ago
    Yeah, I can imagine that non-intrusive advertising works on me, via subconscious and brand name reinforcement. But if I notice the advertising, I'd rather buy a cheaper and better product from a competitor who spends their money on product quality or discounts than a company that spends heavily on advertising. One of the evils of manipulative advertising is that consumers end up paying for it, and once you recognize this you start sticking with the less well known brands.
- armchairhacker 5y ago
  I don’t believe the “ads work subconsciously” bs. Whenever I plan to buy something I a) look it up beforehand or b) (if it’s a routine purchase like groceries or household essentials) follow some method like brand name, second cheapest, iterate between different brands, etc.. b could be influenced by subconscious advertising but i just don’t think so, and anyways, most of the things that are heavily advertised (car insurance, expensive stuff, apps) are things I’m going to research before buying. I do think advertising works, it works because there are unaware people who do impulse buy expensive things and buy whatever they see. Lots of people probably aren’t going to research what olive oil or smart TV is the best, they just want to get their shopping done. And, kind of like how IAPs work because some people will spend thousands of dollars on them, some people spend thousands of dollars on impulse buys.
boplicity 5y ago
Personal experience with KiwiCo: They were absolutely wonderful for a while, especially during pandemic lockdowns. Unfortunately, they've gone significantly downhill in recent months, with kits just not being of the same quality, so we cancelled our subscription. Maybe we'll try them again in a couple of years, maybe not.
- quadrangle 4y ago
  Wow! Fits my suspicions perfectly. Like, starts as creative good product (though I have misgivings about maybe they purposely make kits that discourage second-hand redistribution and thus add excessive waste to the world? Dunno, just a worry)… grows and thrives, gets enough budget to hire some new marketing and growth folks, works to maximize profit by reducing quality and underfunding the product to make lowest possible costs, focuses more on advertising to reach wider market, eventually becomes mediocre shell of the original high-quality business. Something like that maybe… just guessing
Kiro 5y ago
Everyone thinks they're immune to ads.
- psyc 5y ago
  https://youtu.be/3oTR5o9nUzI https://youtu.be/3oTR5o9nUzI
- quadrangle 4y ago
  That's the OPPOSITE of what I'm saying. I'm affected by ads. I think EVERYONE is somewhat affected by SOME ads. I've built up such a defensive posture to ads (thanks maybe to MAD magazine in my youth and use of Adblocking etc), I remain *sensitive* to them in a style where they trigger my defenses. That's not a claim of immunity.
newaccount74 5y ago
> I heard good things about organically... The problem is that even if ads don't affect you personally, they affect people around you, and the people who "organically" tell you about stuff just tell you about things they saw in ads.
- Razengan 5y ago
  No, nobody has told me about stuff they saw in ads. Almost all the things I have ever paid for, have been found one of these ways: • Randomly: I don’t care what toothpaste or soap etc. I get, I just grab the closest/cheapest thing off the shelf. • While manually searching for specific traits, ingredients or features. • Habit/Lack of choice: Coke and Pepsi are the only colas of their type available in most places. • Via word-of-mouth by people who found them the same ways. This includes asking for recommendations on online forums etc.
- quadrangle 4y ago
  Yes, and I'm aware of that. So, I'm skeptical of recommends ALSO, but I don't reduce the standing of a product in my mind because it's recommended, I'm just wary still. If I know that product X exists, and someone tells me they like it, it's a wary slight-increase in trust. Unless the person is someone I can identify as being into corporate advertised crap. If I know that product X exists, and I then see an ad for it, it reduces my inclination to consider buying it. If I can find out that the "organic" recommendation was a paid influencer situation, that's the worst. To be clear, the ad concern doesn't apply to companies advertising their own products. I don't feel awful about going to a restaurant and at the restaurant they are advertising a new dish.

cwkoss 5y ago

When you notice a product being advertised, it means that part of the price of that product/service is being redirected from focusing on quality to manipulation. The amount something advertised is inversely correlated with value.

saulpw 5y ago

Ads work subconsciously. By the time you're looking for a new X and go shopping, you'll recognize company A making an X and it will register as a viable option, only because you heard about it somewhere--having forgotten that you saw their ad and vowed never to buy something from such a money-grubbing corporation. Also, basically everyone has to advertise these days, so good luck finding an X made by a company who doesn't advertise. If you do, in a year or two you'll be extolling the virtues of this wonderful product that you can no longer buy because the company went out of business.

nitwit005 5y ago
Have to disagree with the idea that you have to advertise. Word of mouth still dominates in many industries. Restaurants generally don't need to run ads, and even some chains like Krispy Kreme don't bother.
exyi 5y ago
At least it's not hard to find companies which don't advertise too much. I don't get angry by one poster on a tram, but I get really upset when an entire site is flashing with the ad, when the ad is an outright lie, ... And I'm certain I remember (at least some of) those. I hope I'm not alone, voting with wallet seems to be our only way out of ad-ridden world :/
- stubish 5y ago
  Yeah, I can imagine that non-intrusive advertising works on me, via subconscious and brand name reinforcement. But if I notice the advertising, I'd rather buy a cheaper and better product from a competitor who spends their money on product quality or discounts than a company that spends heavily on advertising. One of the evils of manipulative advertising is that consumers end up paying for it, and once you recognize this you start sticking with the less well known brands.
armchairhacker 5y ago
I don’t believe the “ads work subconsciously” bs. Whenever I plan to buy something I a) look it up beforehand or b) (if it’s a routine purchase like groceries or household essentials) follow some method like brand name, second cheapest, iterate between different brands, etc.. b could be influenced by subconscious advertising but i just don’t think so, and anyways, most of the things that are heavily advertised (car insurance, expensive stuff, apps) are things I’m going to research before buying. I do think advertising works, it works because there are unaware people who do impulse buy expensive things and buy whatever they see. Lots of people probably aren’t going to research what olive oil or smart TV is the best, they just want to get their shopping done. And, kind of like how IAPs work because some people will spend thousands of dollars on them, some people spend thousands of dollars on impulse buys.

boplicity 5y ago

Personal experience with KiwiCo: They were absolutely wonderful for a while, especially during pandemic lockdowns. Unfortunately, they've gone significantly downhill in recent months, with kits just not being of the same quality, so we cancelled our subscription. Maybe we'll try them again in a couple of years, maybe not.

quadrangle 4y ago
Wow! Fits my suspicions perfectly. Like, starts as creative good product (though I have misgivings about maybe they purposely make kits that discourage second-hand redistribution and thus add excessive waste to the world? Dunno, just a worry)… grows and thrives, gets enough budget to hire some new marketing and growth folks, works to maximize profit by reducing quality and underfunding the product to make lowest possible costs, focuses more on advertising to reach wider market, eventually becomes mediocre shell of the original high-quality business. Something like that maybe… just guessing

Kiro 5y ago

Everyone thinks they're immune to ads.

psyc 5y ago
https://youtu.be/3oTR5o9nUzI https://youtu.be/3oTR5o9nUzI
quadrangle 4y ago
That's the OPPOSITE of what I'm saying. I'm affected by ads. I think EVERYONE is somewhat affected by SOME ads. I've built up such a defensive posture to ads (thanks maybe to MAD magazine in my youth and use of Adblocking etc), I remain *sensitive* to them in a style where they trigger my defenses. That's not a claim of immunity.

newaccount74 5y ago

> I heard good things about organically... The problem is that even if ads don't affect you personally, they affect people around you, and the people who "organically" tell you about stuff just tell you about things they saw in ads.

Razengan 5y ago
No, nobody has told me about stuff they saw in ads. Almost all the things I have ever paid for, have been found one of these ways: • Randomly: I don’t care what toothpaste or soap etc. I get, I just grab the closest/cheapest thing off the shelf. • While manually searching for specific traits, ingredients or features. • Habit/Lack of choice: Coke and Pepsi are the only colas of their type available in most places. • Via word-of-mouth by people who found them the same ways. This includes asking for recommendations on online forums etc.
quadrangle 4y ago
Yes, and I'm aware of that. So, I'm skeptical of recommends ALSO, but I don't reduce the standing of a product in my mind because it's recommended, I'm just wary still. If I know that product X exists, and someone tells me they like it, it's a wary slight-increase in trust. Unless the person is someone I can identify as being into corporate advertised crap. If I know that product X exists, and I then see an ad for it, it reduces my inclination to consider buying it. If I can find out that the "organic" recommendation was a paid influencer situation, that's the worst. To be clear, the ad concern doesn't apply to companies advertising their own products. I don't feel awful about going to a restaurant and at the restaurant they are advertising a new dish.