"The ads usually intend to add value." Maybe in the advertiers' and their bosses' deluded minds. I'd estimate that 90% of ads I saw were lying either directly

"The ads usually intend to add value." Maybe in the advertiers' and their bosses' deluded minds. I'd estimate that 90% of ads I saw were lying either directly or by omission. They don't add value, they try to trick you in to buying crap you don't need, that's often no better (or even worse) than the competition, products that can even be harmful (like various prescription drugs that you'd often be better off not taking in the first place). The people that peddle this crap are slime. But I'm not at all surprised that a large contingent of HN members would defend them and try to justify their miserable, lying, parasitic existence. After all, many of them own companies which depend on advertising. So they try to apply some moral balm and pretend that they're "adding value".