Fuck Advertising

[Subtract Eight!]

As a discordian advertising in every exorbitant mutated form is against my religion for a few reasons the most convenient of which for satire purpose is that it seems to claim straight faced that words have meaning. Okay. Next thing, advertising is the absolute lowest form of culture imaginable... the facts:

-It's basic structure implies that culture is twisted and gloryholed for money. (wish i had some)

-The scope of it's presence in your conscious is condensed to smallest space and time, giving people the impression that strong emotions, deep values, REASONS, can be delivered in bite-sized form when you really need a huge fucking cake.

-It's repetition is eroding our value of human creativity, it's simplified artistic endeavor over and over day in and day out that when we see a kandinsky masterpiece we don't see flowing contrasting juxtapositions of form color and space but a whole 'colorful lil thingy that could be on my gap skirt if it wasnt so complicated lol!'



These are some of the reasons I would enjoy being a millionaire to buy tv time and fill it with wordless dada bs AND ITS NOT FUCKING VIRAL MARKETING.

and also a guerrilla ad vandalism covert op unit

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Hm. I'm opposed to corporatism and the mind-control of the masses by giant corporate interests who want us fat and insecure so we'll buy whatever bullshit they're pimping in place of happiness, but as a person who has to sell their shit in order to live, without advertising in its most straightforward form, my children and I would starve.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

Hm. I'm opposed to corporatism and the mind-control of the masses by giant corporate interests who want us fat and insecure so we'll buy whatever bullshit they're pimping in place of happiness, but as a person who has to sell their shit in order to live, without advertising in its most straightforward form, my children and I would starve.

That fact does not override the fact that advertising is, especially in this age, a result of enormous amounts of resources being invested in making people as stupid and as programmable as possible. Just because you depend for your survival on an industry designed to capitalize on weak wills and exploit ignorance, does not make that industry "okay."

To put it bluntly: Get a real job, then.

on the other hand:

People are sheep no matter how you look at it. At least the sheep in the "Developed World" are led around by people just hoping to dupe them into wasting their cash, and not by people hoping to dupe them into pumping other people through the meat grinder of continual war.

Or wait, yes we are. Nevermind.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Oh, yeah, totally, it would be WAY more counter-culture if I quit making my glass shit and instead took a job at, say, Borders.

I think you're in the right forest but on the wrong trail. The corporate advertising machine is bad. Advertising itself is just a tool.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

1. You don't get bonus points based on how "counter-culture" you are. You can do way more damage from the inside than you can from the outside, anyway.

2. Advertising valuable goods and services is worthwhile, assuming you are not artificially creating the illusion of the need for those goods and services. Call me Stalin, but I think we need a Parasite Law.

3. Your children wouldn't necessarily starve, anyway. At a certain point, they would turn on and eat you.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I don't give a shit about bonus points, I give a shit about living my principles and making three figures from home doing something I groove on. As for "doing more damage from the inside", oh, yeah, let me get my MBA so I can work my way up the corporate ladder doing something I fucking hate until I'm so bitter and burnt-out I could give a shit.

As for point #2, that was exactly the distinction I was trying to make. Advertising is not inherently good or evil: it is just a tool.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

I see conveniently avoided my point about your children eating you.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Because we both know it's true. But THEN they would starve because there would be nothing else to eat.

[LHX]

there are people at work right now trying to present their product in a way that is gonna make us feel like we need it

right now


and by us - that includes you



so
as you go about your business - there is people whose life consists of figuring out ways to shape your decision making



is that bad? not really

it is what it is



it isnt particularly good tho - at least not in the wholesome and nurturing sense of good



you can interpret it as a challenge perhaps?



i agree with the OP that it misrepresents complex emotions

(potentially damaging)

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

News:

None of this is news.

[Diseris]

Who stole Vex's login id?

[The Good Reverend Roger]

As for "doing more damage from the inside", oh, yeah, let me get my MBA so I can work my way up the corporate ladder doing something I fucking hate until I'm so bitter and burnt-out I could give a shit.

No imagination.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

As for "doing more damage from the inside", oh, yeah, let me get my MBA so I can work my way up the corporate ladder doing something I fucking hate until I'm so bitter and burnt-out I could give a shit.

No imagination.

How about this, Roger: No DESIRE. I have an absolute lack of desire to play the game from within the system. You can if you want to, but if I'm going to put on the marionette strings and dance the little dance I'll do it by running for office when the kids are in high school. You may think it's a lack of imagination that makes me loathe the idea of "doing it from the inside" but in fact it's just a game I don't feel like playing. I want to live my life the way I want to live it. At this point in time it means that I want to make "art" and sell it on the internet. Am I still playing a game and dancing a dance? Hell yes, of course I am. But at least it's one I LIKE, and it's one that other people like too, and every few months another successful independent craftsperson or business owner comes to me and thanks me for giving them the inspiration and guidance to dance a dance they like, too.

So fuck anyone who thinks I should grow more of an imagination and dance THEIR dance inside THEIR soul-eating corporate mission. I've worked for corporations, it was lame, and I don't want to. So thhhbbbbbbbbt.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

How about this, Roger: No DESIRE.

Okay.  And when they come and chip your kids prior to drafting them for some godforsaken war in North Africa, you can take solace in the fact that at least you TRIED to stop them, by selling kitsch on the internets.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

How about this, Roger: No DESIRE.

Okay.  And when they come and chip your kids prior to drafting them for some godforsaken war in North Africa, you can take solace in the fact that at least you TRIED to stop them, by selling kitsch on the internets.

Don't be too hard on her. The Establishment is almost impossible to avoid, much less defeat. The best thing to do is play along, be quiet, never rock the boat, and hope to God they don't notice you have children. Selling kitsch makes you look harmless, and the stormtroopers only bother with people who look dangerous, so it makes you safe. After all, if you have nothing to hide, there's no reason to fear them.

Besides, war isn't so bad if you're White.