Driving around San Francisco, the billboards by the highways advertise enterprise software solutions. In Los Angeles, it’s accident injury lawyers. In the Central Valley, cosmetic surgery dominates. Software is obviously a big deal in SF, but don’t know what the billboards say about those other places.
Having grown up in Europe, where ads aren’t as ubiquitous, and without TV, I’m not as habituated to them, leading me to ask questions like, is the existence of advertising a net benefit to society? Does its constant attempt to get our attention not distract from more important things? Does it not, most of the time, appeal to our less noble sentiments such as fear, greed, shame, gluttony and sloth? But if I’m honest, my real motivation is that I don’t like being sold to
This has led me to think about the desirability of banning advertising altogether. There are good and valid objections. How would anyone find out about new products and services? Doesn’t this infringe on free speech? What if someone likes a product? Wouldn’t they be allowed to post about it favorably on social media? I quite like capitalism, and I’m not entirely serious about banning advertising. But I’m not just joking either. Let’s say, I’m just asking questions.
One way to implement a ban would be to make it illegal for anyone to pay for advertising. This would be equivalent to banning paying for sex. Sex itself is still fine. The way kidney donations are currently regulated in the U.S. is another example: You can donate a kidney, but you can’t sell it. Another approach would be to tax advertising, as Philosophy Bear proposes here.
Banning or taxing paying for advertising would alleviate, but not remove, the concerns above. Anyone is still free to discuss, recommend and review products in any way they want, as long as they’re not being compensated by those who sell the products. It’s still possible to find out about new things one may want to buy, and anyone can still express themselves, but the underlying motivation changes.
Banning payment for advertising would immediately get rid of the most obvious forms, such as TV ads, internet ads and billboards. There will still be gray zones – how about large shop signs, flashy product packaging, Coca Cola trucks with Santa on them, or giving influencers free products to review? How about commissioning artwork that features a product? How about public service announcements? None of it seems unsolvable though.
Of course, an advertising ban would not be compatible with existing laws surrounding free speech, or the current consensus that economic growth must be prioritized above almost everything else. Maybe it’s something to consider for a distant utopia.
Nehaveigur 