Advertising is evil
I recently read this post about advertising, and oh boy, i have some opinions.
First of all: Yes, advertising is evil. When i say that, i don't mean that the concept of advertising is inherently evil. Just that advertising, as it is done today by every advertising agency that matters, is evil. Just because it is theoretically possible to advertise in ways that aren't incredibly predatory doesn't mean that statement is wrong.
Alrighty, so why do i think advertising is evil?
Well, it's simple. Because modern advertising is all about disregarding consumer privacy and contributing to the huge amounts of waste out there by making people buy more shit they don't need.
I mean. I get why data collection is the norm. With google analytics and the like being able to track basically everything about your customers, why wouldnt you collect all their data? Who cares about privacy, right? Im not saying you're directly responsible for the mass harvesting of my data if you work in advertising. I'm not saying that you're evil because you're just a small cog in the machine, replaceable, like we all are.
Hey, i work in an advertising agency as well! (Though i don't don't do any of the actual marketing, it's an it job)
So, you know. The world sucks. Sometimes we have to participate in that sucking - There's no person out there who isn't working for an industry that in some shape or form contributes to human suffering. That's what happens when the world is controlled by like 10 mega corporations. Unless you're the CEO of Nestle or have a job as a professional puppy kicker or something, i won't blame you for the grave crime of trying to pay your rent on time. But also... You know. Don't try to cover for these corporations. The modern ad industry sucks and we shouldn't pretend it doesn't just because it makes us feel slightly better about ourselves.