Pretty gross and awful, but I guess not especially new. What feels like a new thing in the last ~5 years is when you're browsing some actually reputable news s

Pretty gross and awful, but I guess not especially new. What feels like a new thing in the last ~5 years is when you're browsing some actually reputable news site, and literally reading high brow analysis about misinformation and vulnerable populations, and meanwhile also still getting hammered with ads around the borders about "one weird trick seniors should know". Now that's dystopian. There was a Reeses commercial about "your devices are listening to you" for example, and other stuff that I probably should not boost by describing specifically. But basically there's a new form that's pretty openly self-aware about "yeah this is unpleasant to watch, but what are you going to do, actually turn off your TV? just give us your money." When this stuff first appeared I thought the writing was just subpar, or that maybe the idea was that the public just can't parse anything more subtle. But it's more that anxiety still sells even if you're being blatant about stuff, and if you can create anxiety that isn't actually present yet, then you might be making society sicker but you're still making your ads more effective