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What If We Made Advertising Illegal? (simone.org)

submitted 3 months ago by sundrei@lemmy.sdf.org to c/mildlyinteresting@lemmy.world

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The idea feels like sci-fi because you're so used to it, imagining ads gone feels like asking to outlaw gravity. But humanity had been free of current forms of advertising for 99.9% of its existence. Word-of-mouth and community networks worked just fine. First-party websites and online communities would now improve on that.

The traditional argument pro-advertising—that it provides consumers with necessary information—hasn't been valid for decades.

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[–] Captain_Patchy@lemmy.world 8 points 3 months ago (16 children)

OTA tv would no longer be possible, nor radio AM or FM.
Newspapers (what is left of them) would no longer be possible, neither wouild magazines.
A good deal of the internet is supported by ads too.
If you are willing to give up everything that is supported by ads, I suppose it could work.

[–] Asfalttikyntaja@sopuli.xyz 4 points 3 months ago (4 children)

There is state funded news media called European Broadcasting Union, which can do whatever without ads.

[–] CoffeeJunkie@lemmy.cafe -1 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Well, then broadcasters might be beholden to the whims of the government. Certain content might be promoted, and other content suppressed.

[–] Blueteamsecguy 2 points 3 months ago

Because that absolutely doesn't happen now, it just removes the corporate middle man

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