I grew up in a U.S. city without any billboards, and it was such a shock to move somewhere with a "normal" number of billboards. Besides being ugly, I wonder how they could possibly be effective? Does anyone choose their motorcycle insurance based on which billboard they see first?
Adfree Cities
71–80 of 278 posts
Re: Adfree Cities
#72I have personally gotten very aggressive at removing as many ads from my life as I can. I pay for the "premium" version of everything I can to remove ads (Spotify, YouTube, podcast subscriptions) and use adblocker aggressively. It's so much nicer than the alternative. There are two places where ads remain: 1) Social media where the ads are integrated and not blocked (Facebook, YouTube in-video promos) 2) Billboards i…
> But I cannot think of a single time I have ever made any purchase based on any billboard. I would love if more municipalities clamped down on these. In California the billboards are now predominantly cannabis and casinos.
Depends where you are. Crossing the Bay Bridge, the difference is stark.
Re: Adfree Cities
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
The alternative is to not have a cheap popular bikeshare system. Also with monopolist it is really easy to keep some standards, quality of the ads.
False dichotomy. The alternative is to have a cheap popular bikeshare system supported by taxes. [Edit to reply to okr, because I'm rate-limited: Well, then, make the users of the bikes pay the full cost of the bike service. As it is, you're pushing ads in everyone's face, whether or not they use the bike. Also no thanks.]
So, instead of paying my money for a bike as a choice, a monopolist takes money from everyone. Very funny, but no thanks, i take Ads anytime over that.
Re: Adfree Cities
#74Ban all ads. All of them, they all are junk info our brains are not designed to handle.
free speech in the USA prevents this. What do you define as "ad". Can I talk to the person behind me in line at starbucks and tell them how I feel about the new iphone? Am I advertising to them? What if I work for apple? Can I wear a tshirt that says "iphone are great!" Ban that??
I suspect it would still be unconstitutional, but you wouldn't be banning the speech but rather the financial transaction.
I.e. it's legal to walk into starbucks and tell people about your product but you can't pay someone else to do it.
Re: Adfree Cities
#75I'll be the contrarian here and say that I actually like certain advertisements and billboards. If you are stuck in traffic or on a bus in an ugly urban hellscape, is a billboard really that bad? I'm sorry, they are not going to plant trees in Times Square to replace the billboards. Even in their own press photos, they are showing several billboards that are covering up even uglier buildings! Maybe you are an enlight…
[flagged]
Re: Adfree Cities
#76I'll be the contrarian here and say that I actually like certain advertisements and billboards. If you are stuck in traffic or on a bus in an ugly urban hellscape, is a billboard really that bad? I'm sorry, they are not going to plant trees in Times Square to replace the billboards. Even in their own press photos, they are showing several billboards that are covering up even uglier buildings! Maybe you are an enlight…
Yeah, I'd oppose the installation of a billboard in my neighborhood, that's about it. You wanna put one on the highway or commercial zone, I don't really care. I've lived in billboard-heavy cities (like LA) and billboard-free ones.
Re: Adfree Cities
#77I have personally gotten very aggressive at removing as many ads from my life as I can. I pay for the "premium" version of everything I can to remove ads (Spotify, YouTube, podcast subscriptions) and use adblocker aggressively. It's so much nicer than the alternative. There are two places where ads remain: 1) Social media where the ads are integrated and not blocked (Facebook, YouTube in-video promos) 2) Billboards i…
> But I cannot think of a single time I have ever made any purchase based on any billboard. I would love if more municipalities clamped down on these. In California the billboards are now predominantly cannabis and casinos.
Which is baffling to me, because when I'm in the mood for vice I will make an active effort to find it. I'm not going to go "Oh boy, I'll find that one store advertised on that billboard I was subjected to", I'm going to Google the nearest dispensary (or go to the next closest if I've already determined that one to be crap), or plan a Vegas trip. And the magic of vices is that you don't need to even put people in the mood, vice is it's own attraction. Coke dealers don't need to advertise, their customers come to them.
Re: Adfree Cities
#78I understand why people hate advertising but if I’m honest, I don’t agree with having an “adfree city”. I personally like the aesthetic of visual overload that you find in ad-laden cities (let’s say in Tokyo). It makes the space feel living, breathing, and alive, which a city should be. And then the visually quiet spaces, like temples and parks, feel much more sweet. Also at a conceptual level I disagree with the jus…
To be honest, i have experienced socialist and communist countries, and i never want to go back to this cold, adfree world with its purely functional esthetics. I can understand the aversion for the Ad-Overload, but no Ads, nah, i want it colorful, shiny and blinking. :)
Re: Adfree Cities
#79The root problem is people do "fall" for advertisements. They are everywhere because ... well, they work. There's rarely any critical thinking involved and often ads are not even identified as such and people consider them "information".
Re: Adfree Cities
#80I understand why people hate advertising but if I’m honest, I don’t agree with having an “adfree city”. I personally like the aesthetic of visual overload that you find in ad-laden cities (let’s say in Tokyo). It makes the space feel living, breathing, and alive, which a city should be. And then the visually quiet spaces, like temples and parks, feel much more sweet. Also at a conceptual level I disagree with the jus…
> I personally like the aesthetic of visual overload that you find in ad-laden cities (let’s say in Tokyo)
Tokyo is visually interesting so could get an exemption. But ads look much uglier in other places, here's a sample: