Mildly Interesting

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

submitted 3 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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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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[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 weeks 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.

[–] masterspace 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Lol.

You are aware that newspapers and magazines currently exist that are entirely behind paywalls right?

Both private subscriptions exist, as does government funding.

It is entirely possible to exist in a world that both has the BBC and has The Guardian...

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago

You can call the cover price on a physical newspaper or magazine a paywall but it's a bit odd...

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