Advertising Is a Cancer on Society • Hacker News Board

Re: Advertising Is a Cancer on Society

#491

Post by CamperBob2 » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 12:24 AM UTC

bonoboTP wrote: post #484

CamperBob2 wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a doctor, I'm all for banning soft drinks, recognizing that it probably will never happen. Just curious, what are some of your hobbies? Things you like to do in your spare time? LOL, looks like some people can see where I'm going with this.

There is no epidemic of dangerous hobby-related health issues, but obesity is aone of the biggest health problems in the developed world, especially the US.

There's no epidemic that can be ascribed to one food item in isolation, either. Why pick on soda? Where are the (reproduced!) studies that justify that? (Standing by for the inevitable authoritative-sounding pubmed link that actually proves nothing of the sort.)

Meanwhile, why should my health insurance rates go up because Dr. Joshgel is into cave diving or parachuting or enjoys the occasional track day in his GT3?

Or because someone else leads a sedentary life playing video games? How about banning those? There's no valid science behind claims of an "epidemic" of soda-induced obesity, but if you're going to generalize the argument to include all common causes of obesity, I'd respond by pointing out that there's certainly no shortage of studies showing the harmful effects of a sedentary lifestyle.

Rest assured, after the Dr. Joshgels of the world have come for my soda, they WILL come after something you enjoy. Maybe your steak, maybe your beer, maybe your guns, maybe your Playstation or your sofa. The slippery slope argument is a logical fallacy, but these people aren't logical. They're too busy being right.

Re: Advertising Is a Cancer on Society

#492

Post by Proven » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 12:29 AM UTC

All I need is to see the title in order to call BS.

Advertising is free speech. So, no, the article isn’t worth reading.

Re: Advertising Is a Cancer on Society

#493

Post by tetraca » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 12:29 AM UTC

amiune wrote: post #86

wpietri wrote: post #23

He doesn't quite say it by name, but most advertising is a classic arms race. Especially given how the internet now makes information easily available, a great deal of advertising is about manipulating consumers to pick company A's products over those from competitors B, C, and D. This forces those other companies to spend to get and keep customers. It's pure waste. For example, everybody on the planet is now familia…

If every company stopped advertising then google and facebook and twitter will disappear. Are all these companies pure waste? How do you fund a replacement for them? Should these services be provided by governments?

> If every company stopped advertising then google and facebook and twitter will disappear.

I don't see the downside.

Re: Advertising Is a Cancer on Society

#494

Post by yellowapple » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 12:44 AM UTC

magduf wrote: post #485

yellowapple wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd go the other direction: don't group them (a lot of shows already account for / include commercial breaks, so it ain't like they're that disruptive) but make them shorter. The shorter the commercial, the less likely a viewer is to skip them or change the channel, which means more engagement. The ad's subject wins (more engagement), the viewer wins (less ads), the channel wins (more engagement + less supply = more…

>If I had the resources and know-how, I'd start a radio station on this premise. I've noticed that most radio stations feel like they play more commercials than actual music Of course. They're all owned by ClearChannel these days, so why should they play more music than ads? What are people going to do, switch to another (ClearChannel) radio station? You might also notice the ads are usually playing at the same time…

> The only people who still use/listen to/watch these things are dinosaurs who haven't moved on to streaming radio (or just buying your own music), cellphones, and streaming movies

Or people like me who drive cars that predate the widespread availability of AUX jacks (which I've worked around by using one of those cassette adapters, but I know of at least some people who drive cars in that awkward phase where cars had neither.

Re: Advertising Is a Cancer on Society

#495

Post by solipsism » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 12:47 AM UTC

pas wrote: post #396

justforyou wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If we're basing this on anecdotal evidence, I've worked with entire departments who ate cake or ice-cream every day. That doesn't mean cake and cookies should be banned, nor should soda. It's nanny state nonsense, and one of the more steeply graded slippery slopes... If you're really concerned for people's wellbeing, ensuring access to healthcare goes a lot further than denying people snacks..

People with riskier lives should simply pay more into healthcare insurance.

People with riskier lives

Glad you phrased it that way, because a lot of the people who want me to pay a tax for eating a cookie probably aren't imagining themselves paying a tax for going Whitewater rafting, or for driving their car multiple times a day.

Re: Advertising Is a Cancer on Society

#496

Post by solipsism » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 12:52 AM UTC

Zeklandia wrote: post #450

andyburke wrote: post #442

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Entertainment and relaxation are not unnecessary. Especially in our late capitalist civilizations.

Entertainment and relaxation are necessary, you are right. However, both can be done in ways that are at best productive and at least not-counterproductive. Entertainment does not have to unproductive. People who play sports or do other recreational activities are working to maintain their physical health while having fun. There are games of all sorts you can play to help you improve life skills or even physical and…

All entertainment must be productive? That's what you would decree? Ugh, very free people would want to live in your horrible nanny state.

Re: Advertising Is a Cancer on Society

#497

Post by solipsism » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 12:56 AM UTC

brokenkebab wrote: post #225

solipsism wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

May we be allowed cake and ice cream or would you ban those as well? Maybe you can get a special license if it's a birthday?

May we be allowed cake and ice cream or would you ban those as well? Maybe you can get a special license if it's a birthday? Absolutely reasonable question. How about coffee? Soda-prohibiters usually ignore it, because, I guess, they like it themselves, or expect a huge backlash. However, it's a very common way of excessive sugar consumption world-wide.

Or beer? Are all these soda banners ready to give up their IPAs?

Re: Advertising Is a Cancer on Society

#498

Post by solipsism » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 12:57 AM UTC

gambiting wrote: post #141

solipsism wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

May we be allowed cake and ice cream or would you ban those as well? Maybe you can get a special license if it's a birthday?

You need to judge a social impact of something before you ban it. The reason why soft drinks are under fire is because there is a lot of people who drink them literally every day. I know several people who drink 8-12 cans of diet coke every single day. On the other hand people usually don't eat cake or ice-cream everyday. I mean, I have no doubt that you could find someone who does, but it's not a widespread behaviou…

I guess you'd be for banning alcohol then? The aggregate negative effects on society due to alcohol are incredible, extending far beyond simple healthcare questions.

Re: Advertising Is a Cancer on Society

#499

Post by arkades » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 1:02 AM UTC

Xixi wrote: post #287

arkades wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And here I go rewarding your self promotion, but when else do I get to ask directly? I just skimmed your site. It looks like it’s all greens. Is that correct?

We send very different kind of teas, but they are all Japanese teas. So for instance we only sent black tea once [1] so far because wakocha is pretty rare, though it is gaining in popularity among tea producers. I recently found a very good one produced in Tanegashima, we may send it soon. Otherwise most teas will fall in either the roasted family (hojicha), or in the non-roasted family (sencha, gyokuro, etc.), with…

I am a pretty dedicated tea dork, even if I don’t particularly love Japanese tea. I’ll give it a shot.

Re: Advertising Is a Cancer on Society

#500

Post by cavneb » Thu, Aug 01, 2019, 1:06 AM UTC

I agree with many of the ideas with the comparison, however to call “advertising” as a whole is cancer is out of touch. I believe what should be said is “modern-day digital advertising”. I speak with advertisers all the time and they choose us because we display ethical ads (website is codefund.io). We do not track, profile, or collect information. All of our ads are chosen and displayed solely based on the context of the site.

We all need advertising in order to enjoy the free services we all use. Cancer is something that nobody should have to live with. Advertising is something we can all live with if done ethically and responsibly.