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Not sure why you so desperately try to find some moral justification for advertising, having the skin in the game like many in HN? Its literally manipulation o

by jajko 2y ago

Not sure why you so desperately try to find some moral justification for advertising, having the skin in the game like many in HN? Its literally manipulation of those who have money to spend them on product they otherwise wouldn't, has absolutely 0 relationship on quality on the product (in extreme cases it goes directly against it). Word of mouth, unbiased reviews (yes, they cost something to keep the interference away but save you tons of money and time down the line). Its 2024, we are more connected than we probably should be. Manipulation always = lies, it doesn't matter how you wrap them around. We all have moral compass (barring sociopaths/psychopaths et al), and we all have opinion on such behavior. Sure its like nuclear armament, once one does it many feel they also need to do it. But its purely emotional business on both ends (customers and companies feeling the need to pay for ads), where literally the only person truly winning is the advertiser (something about selling shovels during gold rush). Mankind as it is only loses, I don't see any way its morally justifiable. Even having less services say online available for free ain't a losing proposition if you look at long term damage of advertising.

baryphonic 2y ago
> Its literally manipulation of those who have money to spend them on product they otherwise wouldn't, has absolutely 0 relationship on quality on the product (in extreme cases it goes directly against it). This is an extremely strong claim. Certainly you'd concede that some ads contain truthful information. Like there exists at least one ad that is true. So then how is it "manipulation" for someone to post that information in a public space? We jumped from "billboards are ugly" to "ads are categorically evil," and based on some pretty strong assumptions. > Word of mouth, unbiased reviews (yes, they cost something to keep the interference away but save you tons of money and time down the line). Okay, so how do you get the first person to buy your product if advertising is illegal? The base case would seem to require it. Same goes for "independent reviews." How do you find the independent reviewer? And this is ignoring getting a critical mass of customers for word of mouth to even work.
- latexr 2y ago
  > This is an extremely strong claim. Certainly you'd concede that some ads contain truthful information. Like there exists at least one ad that is true. Conversely, I find this a weak claim. If most major uses of something are negative, one minor positive use does not trump the negative. And even if a billboard is 100% factual, that does not necessarily means it’s a net positive to have constant visual pollution for something you may not even buy.
latexr 2y ago
> Its literally manipulation of those who have money to spend them on product they otherwise wouldn't It’s manipulation of everyone, even those who don’t have the money to spend. They get into credit card debt instead.

by jajko 2y ago

baryphonic 2y ago

> Its literally manipulation of those who have money to spend them on product they otherwise wouldn't, has absolutely 0 relationship on quality on the product (in extreme cases it goes directly against it). This is an extremely strong claim. Certainly you'd concede that some ads contain truthful information. Like there exists at least one ad that is true. So then how is it "manipulation" for someone to post that information in a public space? We jumped from "billboards are ugly" to "ads are categorically evil," and based on some pretty strong assumptions. > Word of mouth, unbiased reviews (yes, they cost something to keep the interference away but save you tons of money and time down the line). Okay, so how do you get the first person to buy your product if advertising is illegal? The base case would seem to require it. Same goes for "independent reviews." How do you find the independent reviewer? And this is ignoring getting a critical mass of customers for word of mouth to even work.

latexr 2y ago
> This is an extremely strong claim. Certainly you'd concede that some ads contain truthful information. Like there exists at least one ad that is true. Conversely, I find this a weak claim. If most major uses of something are negative, one minor positive use does not trump the negative. And even if a billboard is 100% factual, that does not necessarily means it’s a net positive to have constant visual pollution for something you may not even buy.

latexr 2y ago

> Its literally manipulation of those who have money to spend them on product they otherwise wouldn't It’s manipulation of everyone, even those who don’t have the money to spend. They get into credit card debt instead.