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On that specific quote - I feel like this is offensive on more than one level. The waste of our best minds... sure. Fine. But - "to sell you ads." Marketti
by mapt 2y ago
On that specific quote -
I feel like this is offensive on more than one level. The waste of our best minds... sure. Fine. But - "to sell you ads."
Marketting has the dubious distinction of being one area of human endeavor where technological advances serve mostly to make your life worse, make your mind less focused, make your wallet more empty.
The spherical-cow "ideal" 100% efficient perfect marketing campaign/tactic literally hypnotizes you into dropping all your money on an arbitrary good or service. It is isomorphic to somebody mugging you. What does it look like if we achieve 10% efficiency? 1%? How is this infringement on your agency and financial well-being a positive social good? What if we could achieve profitable returns even by flooding the zone at 0.001%? How many ads do you want to be subjected to per thing that somebody in your neighborhood buys?
- thfuran 2y ago0. I want third-party advertising eliminated entirely and self-sdvertising advertising on one's own property more regulated than it currently is.
- ninalanyon 2y agoBe careful what you wish for. At least at the moment it is easy to use tools like uBlock to avoid ads but it gets more difficult if they are served as an integral part of the page from the same domain.
- thfuran 2y agoI think that'd be far less prolific than third party advertising currently is. And it'd be worth it to get rid of the big pile of perverse incentives, manipulation, and surveillance that is the current ad industry.
- antonvs 2y agoAlong these lines, "it" most fundamentally refers to unrestrained capitalism. (Or perhaps computing.)
- eddd-ddde 2y agoI disagree. The spherical cow of marketing is a system that connects consumers with EXACTLY what they are looking for. What you are describing is the capitalist spherical cow.
- AlexandrB 2y agoMarketing isn't just about connecting consumers to products, it's also about creating demand.
- xnx 2y agoHelping customers find products and services to their needs is a good and worthwhile goal. Unfortunately, the typical role of marketing is to convince people that they have problems that only the marketed product can fix.
- mapt 2y agoHow many marketing professionals do you know that work for non-profit providers of goods and services? I'm sure they exist, but I imagine not many.
- lurk2 2y ago> The spherical-cow "ideal" 100% efficient perfect marketing campaign/tactic literally hypnotizes you into dropping all your money on an arbitrary good or service. It is isomorphic to somebody mugging you. I like the quote and despise advertising of any kind for mostly the same reason, but you could apply this logic to any kind of business and it starts to fall apart. > The spherical-cow "ideal" 100% efficient perfect pharmaceutical is physically addictive. It is isomorphic to narcotics trafficking. > The spherical-cow "ideal" 100% efficient perfect medical system keeps you sick. > The spherical-cow "ideal" 100% efficient perfect food product induces constant cravings. There’s arguments to be made that all of these things are true, but what we’re talking about is not essential to the activities themselves but the profit motive that underlies them. Profit motive in and of itself is not sufficient to cause this kind of behavior; it requires a disregard for the consequences that your actions will have upon others. A lot of marketers fall into this category, but I’m not convinced that marketing in and of itself can be reduced to this spherical-cow in a vacuum.
- WD-42 2y agoThe difference is all those other things you listed - food, drugs, etc provide value. An ad provides none.
- baconbrand 2y agoAds provide information. An event you might be interested in is happening. A food you might like is available. A thing that will totally improve your life can be yours. etc
- spencerflem 2y agoThe information in most ads is things like: "Skinny beautiful people are worthy of love and use this brand of makeup". Or "good parents who love their children go to Disney World". Or "it's a rugged and cool type of person that buys a Jeep". The type of ads that do what you're taking about are sought out. People willingly watch Nintendo Directs.
- 2y ago