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If someone taps you on the shoulder, they are performing an immoral action by grabbing your attention? I think you have an irrationally radical take on this.

If someone taps you on the shoulder, they are performing an immoral action by grabbing your attention? I think you have an irrationally radical take on this. I can understand disdain for targeted or excessive and intrusive ads -- I use an ad blocker too. But to say that advertising as a whole is immoral seems overblown. What constitutes an ad? Can I put a yellow label on my can of beans I sell, or is that too vibrant and might catch your eye in the supermarket? Should all products and signage be black/white to protect your delicate attention span?

matheusmoreira 3y ago
> If someone taps you on the shoulder, they are performing an immoral action by grabbing your attention? My boundaries aren't so strict when it comes to my personal space. People usually have good reasons to call my attention when they tap my shoulders. I just don't get advertised to when I turn around to greet them. Usually they want to ask me a question or simply socialize. People don't like to be rude. They don't like to bother others without good reason. They want the social activity to be a positive experience so that they will be accepted by others. That's the social norm and it protects me from abuses such as random people tapping me on the shoulder for idiotic reasons such as advertising. You'd have to be some kind of sociopath to think it's okay to tap someone on the shoulders and start pushing products at them the second they turn around. Mercifully, people that bold just don't seem to exist in my social circles. > you have an irrationally radical take on this Radical? OK. Nothing wrong with being radical. Compromise is the root of all evil. Irrational? No. I spent a lot of time thinking about this. If you want to claim I'm irrational, you need to refute everything I've said to the point it looks like I'm babbling incoherently. > But to say that advertising as a whole is immoral seems overblown. Not at all. Advertising is by definition information people didn't ask for. It's noise, to be filtered. It's audiovisual pollution. > What constitutes an ad? Information I did not seek out. For example, when I open this web site, it's because I want to read and post comments. I don't come here to look at products. If HN starts sending me ads for products I'll block them. > Can I put a yellow label on my can of beans I sell, or is that too vibrant and might catch your eye in the supermarket? If I go to the supermarket, it's because I want to buy products. If I open an app store, it's because I want to see apps. It's okay to show me the stuff. The key point here is I asked for it. I don't even consider it advertising in that case. It's just the information I wanted. > Show Should all products and signage be black/white to protect your delicate attention span? In my country there's laws in certain cities to that effect. I think it's pretty great. https://99percentinvisible.org/article/clean-city-law-secrets-sao-paulo-uncovered-outdoor-advertising-ban/ https://99percentinvisible.org/article/clean-city-law-secret... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cidade_Limpa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cidade_Limpa
- MrZander 3y ago
  >If you want to claim I'm irrational, you need to refute everything I've said to the point it looks like I'm babbling incoherently. Your claim that advertising is immoral is what I see as irrational. Not that you hate ads. You've provided no grounds for why its actually inherently wrong to advertise. If anything, you've contradicted yourself. There are times where you think it is okay for something to grab your attention, like when you go to the supermarket. Perhaps we are disagreeing on what an ad is. "Information I did not seek out" is not a good definition of an advertisement. Just because you are looking for it, doesn't mean it isn't an ad. I'd claim an ad is anything that promotes a product, service, or event. Given that definition, would you still consider all advertising immoral?

matheusmoreira 3y ago

> If someone taps you on the shoulder, they are performing an immoral action by grabbing your attention? My boundaries aren't so strict when it comes to my personal space. People usually have good reasons to call my attention when they tap my shoulders. I just don't get advertised to when I turn around to greet them. Usually they want to ask me a question or simply socialize. People don't like to be rude. They don't like to bother others without good reason. They want the social activity to be a positive experience so that they will be accepted by others. That's the social norm and it protects me from abuses such as random people tapping me on the shoulder for idiotic reasons such as advertising. You'd have to be some kind of sociopath to think it's okay to tap someone on the shoulders and start pushing products at them the second they turn around. Mercifully, people that bold just don't seem to exist in my social circles. > you have an irrationally radical take on this Radical? OK. Nothing wrong with being radical. Compromise is the root of all evil. Irrational? No. I spent a lot of time thinking about this. If you want to claim I'm irrational, you need to refute everything I've said to the point it looks like I'm babbling incoherently. > But to say that advertising as a whole is immoral seems overblown. Not at all. Advertising is by definition information people didn't ask for. It's noise, to be filtered. It's audiovisual pollution. > What constitutes an ad? Information I did not seek out. For example, when I open this web site, it's because I want to read and post comments. I don't come here to look at products. If HN starts sending me ads for products I'll block them. > Can I put a yellow label on my can of beans I sell, or is that too vibrant and might catch your eye in the supermarket? If I go to the supermarket, it's because I want to buy products. If I open an app store, it's because I want to see apps. It's okay to show me the stuff. The key point here is I asked for it. I don't even consider it advertising in that case. It's just the information I wanted. > Show Should all products and signage be black/white to protect your delicate attention span? In my country there's laws in certain cities to that effect. I think it's pretty great. https://99percentinvisible.org/article/clean-city-law-secrets-sao-paulo-uncovered-outdoor-advertising-ban/ https://99percentinvisible.org/article/clean-city-law-secret... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cidade_Limpa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cidade_Limpa

MrZander 3y ago
>If you want to claim I'm irrational, you need to refute everything I've said to the point it looks like I'm babbling incoherently. Your claim that advertising is immoral is what I see as irrational. Not that you hate ads. You've provided no grounds for why its actually inherently wrong to advertise. If anything, you've contradicted yourself. There are times where you think it is okay for something to grab your attention, like when you go to the supermarket. Perhaps we are disagreeing on what an ad is. "Information I did not seek out" is not a good definition of an advertisement. Just because you are looking for it, doesn't mean it isn't an ad. I'd claim an ad is anything that promotes a product, service, or event. Given that definition, would you still consider all advertising immoral?