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[flagged]

dbspin 1y ago
Modern advertising was invented by Edward Bernays in his book 'Propaganda'. It is literally and specifically designed to manipulate beliefs and behaviour. Broadcast TV was created as content to package advertising, not the other way around. The social impact of advertising is enormous - primarily in reenforcing the helplessness and delusion of inevitably around disengaged consumer capitalism that Mark Fisher referred to as Capitalist Realism. It's pure, constant, unending manipulation - in public spaces, in private spaces embedded in in every drop of media in both explicit and disguised forms. It negates our ability to trust one another and what we see and read. It makes the worst and least democratic aspects of modernity seem eternal and unchangeable. It creates awful incentives and enforces disingenuousness. Advertising is a psychic poison.
- throwaway290 1y ago
  [flagged]
  - saubeidl 1y ago
    > Manipulating beliefs and behavior is propaganda. What do you think "changing brand perception and driving purchases" is, other than a euphemism for the above?
    - throwaway290 1y ago
      If you can't differentiate between things like "you should hate another country" (propaganda) vs things like "you should know about this product" (ad), I don't know what to tell you.
      - saubeidl 1y ago
        One is nationalist propaganda, the other is capitalist propaganda. Both are propaganda.
        throwaway290 1y ago
        [flagged]
  - viraptor 1y ago
    Which part are you even disagreeing with?
  - whstl 1y ago
    From your own link: > In the 1910s and 1920s, many ad men believed that human instincts could be targeted and harnessed – "sublimated" into the desire to purchase commodities.[44] Edward Bernays, a nephew of Sigmund Freud, promoted the approach making him a pioneer of modern cigarette advertising
    - throwaway290 1y ago
      That's mostly pseudoscience.
      - pixxel 1y ago
        [dead]
eviks 1y ago
> had ads and belive it or not people survived. > You know nothing about psychological warfare if you think ads ... cause everyone to die.
- throwaway290 1y ago
  You know what actually I don't even know what you think you're saying.
Argonaut998 1y ago
Ads shape opinions. Why do political parties spend so much on them? Carefully curated ads can control you on subtle levels. Read the Propaganda book that another reply cited and also read Elul’s. Also read the works or experiments by B.F Skinner and then Kaheneman. You’ll notice this golden thread that ultimately culminates in “mind control” today via algorithmic shaping for content curation and advertisement. It’s why people who are terminally online are often ideological extremists and generally mentally unhealthy.
- throwaway290 1y ago
  > Ads shape opinions If you think ads shape opinions and everything else doesn't, you are tragically and ironically misinformed. The only difference is that ads are explicit about it. There is no better way of subsidizing free content, clearly delimited from the content and not influencing the nature of that content unlike sponsorship blocks for example. If you take away ads all you have left is ads disguised as content + paid only content, because as I said: no one is obligated to feed anyone's black hole of content consumption for free.
dang 1y ago
Please make your substantive points without crossing into personal attack. That only makes everything worse. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

[flagged]

Modern advertising was invented by Edward Bernays in his book 'Propaganda'. It is literally and specifically designed to manipulate beliefs and behaviour. Broadcast TV was created as content to package advertising, not the other way around. The social impact of advertising is enormous - primarily in reenforcing the helplessness and delusion of inevitably around disengaged consumer capitalism that Mark Fisher referred to as Capitalist Realism. It's pure, constant, unending manipulation - in public spaces, in private spaces embedded in in every drop of media in both explicit and disguised forms. It negates our ability to trust one another and what we see and read. It makes the worst and least democratic aspects of modernity seem eternal and unchangeable. It creates awful incentives and enforces disingenuousness. Advertising is a psychic poison.

throwaway290 1y ago
[flagged]
- saubeidl 1y ago
  > Manipulating beliefs and behavior is propaganda. What do you think "changing brand perception and driving purchases" is, other than a euphemism for the above?
  - throwaway290 1y ago
    If you can't differentiate between things like "you should hate another country" (propaganda) vs things like "you should know about this product" (ad), I don't know what to tell you.
    - saubeidl 1y ago
      One is nationalist propaganda, the other is capitalist propaganda. Both are propaganda.
      - throwaway290 1y ago
        [flagged]
- viraptor 1y ago
  Which part are you even disagreeing with?
- whstl 1y ago
  From your own link: > In the 1910s and 1920s, many ad men believed that human instincts could be targeted and harnessed – "sublimated" into the desire to purchase commodities.[44] Edward Bernays, a nephew of Sigmund Freud, promoted the approach making him a pioneer of modern cigarette advertising
  - throwaway290 1y ago
    That's mostly pseudoscience.
    - pixxel 1y ago
      [dead]

eviks 1y ago

> had ads and belive it or not people survived. > You know nothing about psychological warfare if you think ads ... cause everyone to die.

throwaway290 1y ago
You know what actually I don't even know what you think you're saying.

Argonaut998 1y ago

Ads shape opinions. Why do political parties spend so much on them? Carefully curated ads can control you on subtle levels. Read the Propaganda book that another reply cited and also read Elul’s. Also read the works or experiments by B.F Skinner and then Kaheneman. You’ll notice this golden thread that ultimately culminates in “mind control” today via algorithmic shaping for content curation and advertisement. It’s why people who are terminally online are often ideological extremists and generally mentally unhealthy.

throwaway290 1y ago
> Ads shape opinions If you think ads shape opinions and everything else doesn't, you are tragically and ironically misinformed. The only difference is that ads are explicit about it. There is no better way of subsidizing free content, clearly delimited from the content and not influencing the nature of that content unlike sponsorship blocks for example. If you take away ads all you have left is ads disguised as content + paid only content, because as I said: no one is obligated to feed anyone's black hole of content consumption for free.

dang 1y ago

Please make your substantive points without crossing into personal attack. That only makes everything worse. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html