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Thread: Advertising is unethical, manipulative, and ultimately destructive to the human condition.

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    Avalon Member leavesoftrees's Avatar
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    Default Re: Advertising is unethical, manipulative, and ultimately destructive to the human condition.

    Quote Posted by thepainterdoug (here)
    I am so tired of adds on youtube videos such as a very popular NDE youtube channel. I cannot just play the video without having to stay ready to skip the add to move it forward . so my solution , i dont watch these video channels anymore, rather I got to nderf.com i click on a nde , copy and paste it into my reader , shut my lights and play the recording straight thru.
    Brave browser blocks YouTube ads

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    Germany Avalon Member Michi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Advertising is unethical, manipulative, and ultimately destructive to the human condition.

    Newest pilot: Our local store (EDEKA) has now at one of the cashier conveyor belts large printed ads on it. Usually they're black - now with the colored ads one hardly can't see the placed goods on it anymore.

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    "The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but to reveal to him his own."
    -- Benjamin Disraeli

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    United States Avalon Member Raskolnikov's Avatar
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    Default Re: Advertising is unethical, manipulative, and ultimately destructive to the human condition.

    Quote Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
    Long ago, when aged just 20, and even before I'd ever heard of Edward Bernays (a strong candidate for the antichrist of his time), I knew that advertising was fundamentally unethical. But it was such an unusual conclusion about the world, I could hardly get anyone to listen.
    The drive from LA to Vegas drove that point home to me about the same age. It was a flat, barren, boring drive most of the way but the closer you got the closer the billboards flashed, from the occasional Casino billboard showing a nice buffet and winning slots every few miles to bright flashing neon signs of cigarettes, burgers, bail bonds and new teeth bashing you over the head about every 100 feet. Always felt like a card in the spokes driving into that town, or maybe Mike Tyson’s punching bag. It always struck me as offensive, the disrespectful way the ugly billboards littered the highway screaming out their egregious messages. But Las Vegas was never known for it’s subtlety was it?

    Think of the amount of money the big corporations spend on advertising to convince you to buy their products when ultimately that money should be going into increasing the value of those products, into making better products not better advertisements. Some time ago, I sensed a direct correlation between the quality of the product versus the quantity of money being poured into its advertising, the former decreasing as the later increases. That may not hold true for everything but it’s spot on for all the breakfast cereal I grew up on, a sugar high before school, the first form of ADHD.

    Quote Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
    I've never changed my view. That's why there are no advertisements here on Avalon (and never will be), and why I never once monetized any of my videos. Even in the days of Project Camelot, one of the biggest alternative media sites of its time, we never tried to sell a single thing and lived off donations only — which we didn't even ask for. That worked just fine for us. Just trust, and it all works out.
    There’s something to be said for being true to the cause. I have difficulty trusting someone who professes to bring you the truth and yet is somehow lining their pockets by doing so. So much disinformation and outside influence. Akin to politicians, we should have an exact accounting of where every dollar is coming from for anyone holding public office.

    I thought that was the difference between you and Kerry. It began to feel like you were going in separate directions, you trying to stay true to the cause of uncovering the truth, while Kerry seemed like she had aspirations for notoriety and making a name for herself. I hope I’m not offending anyone by saying that. You both did great work, it just felt like things changed over time and you no longer saw eye to eye. I really don’t know if she’s advertising these days or not.

    Whatever the reasons, thank you both for all the great work, and thanks again Bill for staying true to the cause and barring all advertising. Must be those past lives as a Tibetan monk. It’s admirable, at least from my pov, another who suffers from severe allergic reaction to all advertising. Can’t wait till AI puts the ads IN our heads!

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    Avalon Member rgray222's Avatar
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    Default Re: Advertising is unethical, manipulative, and ultimately destructive to the human condition.

    I think this pretty well describes how people feel about advertising.


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    United States Avalon Member ErtheVessel's Avatar
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    Default Re: Advertising is unethical, manipulative, and ultimately destructive to the human condition.

    It's been my opinion for many years that all corporate advertising is a kind of sorcery. Even the ones we like and that make us feel good. It is spell-casting and manipulates us not only psychologically but is also somehow spiritually corrupting. Maybe that seems too extreme, but that's how it makes me feel. Unfortunately, the general public seems oblivious or at least tolerant and resigned to the surface level annoyance of it. I guess we can assume that this passive response on the part of the general public is part of the "plan."

    I came across this in the comment section just today from a Shawn Ryan clip I was watching. I've never heard or known anyone else make a comment like this.

    "6 years ago I developed pospartum psychosis, went fully bonkers for 6 months. I have untangled all of my delusions to a point where I can make sense of everything I was thinking except for one thing...my obsession with advertising, the fonts, displays, the patterns in the numbers... wish I could explain it in a way that makes sense instead of the crazy perspective I was seeing it through back then but it felt evil and ominous and subliminal and can't shake this feeling that my senses were just so heightened from living in a state of fight or flight for so long that maybe not all of it was made up in my head as far as the way it's being used to grab our attention. Wish I knew the tactics that are actually used behind things like that."


    I think corporate advertising is a whole lot creepier than we realize.

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    Avalon Member rgray222's Avatar
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    Default Re: Advertising is unethical, manipulative, and ultimately destructive to the human condition.

    Quote Posted by ErtheVessel (here)
    It's been my opinion for many years that all corporate advertising is a kind of sorcery. Even the ones we like and that make us feel good. It is spell-casting and manipulates us not only psychologically but is also somehow spiritually corrupting. Maybe that seems too extreme, but that's how it makes me feel. Unfortunately, the general public seems oblivious or at least tolerant and resigned to the surface level annoyance of it. I guess we can assume that this passive response on the part of the general public is part of the "plan."

    I came across this in the comment section just today from a Shawn Ryan clip I was watching. I've never heard or known anyone else make a comment like this.

    "6 years ago I developed pospartum psychosis, went fully bonkers for 6 months. I have untangled all of my delusions to a point where I can make sense of everything I was thinking except for one thing...my obsession with advertising, the fonts, displays, the patterns in the numbers... wish I could explain it in a way that makes sense instead of the crazy perspective I was seeing it through back then but it felt evil and ominous and subliminal and can't shake this feeling that my senses were just so heightened from living in a state of fight or flight for so long that maybe not all of it was made up in my head as far as the way it's being used to grab our attention. Wish I knew the tactics that are actually used behind things like that."


    I think corporate advertising is a whole lot creepier than we realize.
    It sounds as though you were mixing the ethereal or the spiritual part of your life with your humanity. It is eerie enough knowing that the two are very much real; I can only imagine how frightening it would be to blend the two, even for a short period of time.
    Glad your better,

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    United States Avalon Member ErtheVessel's Avatar
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    Default Re: Advertising is unethical, manipulative, and ultimately destructive to the human condition.

    rgray222, just to be clear, the quote in my post above was from someone I don't know - she was commenting on a Shawn Ryan video I was watching. I just meant that I had never seen anyone else (besides her) comment on the spiritually evil nature of advertising and she gave more dimension to it for me, in spite of (or because of!) her seeming psychotic state. Sorry for the confusion but thank you for your kind words!

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    United States Moderator Sue (Ayt)'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Advertising is unethical, manipulative, and ultimately destructive to the human condition.

    Quote Posted by ErtheVessel (here)
    I think corporate advertising is a whole lot creepier than we realize.
    Where I grew up, there were always jobs available for "consumer research" companies that were easy to get for senior high and college students. I worked these jobs regularly for my school income, and found them quite creepy even back then. We sometimes interviewed in person, and sometimes by phone. Sometimes we would show various commercials and had to ask the oddest questions at time, about emotions invoked, what images came to mind, etc. and we were instructed to write down their exact words, whatever they were. Commercials with the slightest variations were shown, and often the demographics requirements for each survey were very precise - like black, elderly widows, or white high-school drop outs. Some ads varied only by background music, or quick glimpses of a tasty treat or nostalgic pictures, or even the font used. And we did thousands of these surveys and got paid generally by the survey.

    For phone surveys, we were always required to introduce ourselves as "Carol Grey". Somehow, that creeped me out too, and every now and then I run across that name and wonder if it is some generic code name for something.

    It was big business employing psychology, obvious even back then.
    (60's and early 70's)
    "We're all bozos on this bus"

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    Great Britain Avalon Member Mari's Avatar
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    Default Re: Advertising is unethical, manipulative, and ultimately destructive to the human condition.

    I robustly agree. Great comments here, stating everything I feel! I've always known that adverts were trying to manipulate me. I dont watch TV, but - mirroring the vast influx of illegal immigrants to the UK and the 'favouring' of non-indigenous peoples when it comes to our 'right's, its no coincidence that there is an over-representation of black families in TV and online adverts - no matter what the advert is 'selling'. Hell, that makes me sound 'racist' but no - I'm pointing it out and it IS being called out by many others who are concerned that our national identity (prominently white) is being replaced and this is very blatant in the advertising industry, so I'm calling the over-representing out, because it fits the context of the current political situation in the UK.

    I'm not a fan of John Lewis Christmas adverts. Right, having got that out of the way, I confess I did chuckle over the 'Trampolining Trump/Hillary' one, 2016, I think?
    Their latest seems to 'get it', yeah, and has everyone moist-eyed...but that is the whole point of the Advert, to get us all hooked into a sentimentality that will get their cash-registers ringing a-merrily. Sorry folks, I've thrown the baby out with the bathwater on this one but I've been in the retail industry for too long, so I'm immune to the hard-sell...but I bet you JL's profits will be quite healthy after their latest Ad.

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    Spain Avalon Member betoobig's Avatar
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    Default Re: Advertising is unethical, manipulative, and ultimately destructive to the human condition.

    i have worked in advertising industry as creative designer and absolutly yes..... Advertising is the epitome of propaganda.... Propaganda at its finest....
    the key thing here is COMPETITION.... competition got us all running more. more sales, more clients ... more more...... NESARA Gesara to end with competition and restore collaboration in its place.
    Much love
    honoring White Feather: SHIFT HAPPENED

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    Default Re: Advertising is unethical, manipulative, and ultimately destructive to the human condition.

    Quote Posted by ErtheVessel (here)
    It's been my opinion for many years that all corporate advertising is a kind of sorcery.

    Don't undermine this one. Think of it as a fact in nature.

    This is an unceasing affair with anything in public.

    The professional kind is, of course, designed to reduce you to a beast.


    Mine is strictly amateur. Here's the difference.

    For maybe about a month, I have tried to take on the paid actor role in order to advertise for someone else, and, so far, the result is consistently zero. That's probably because they don't know what I am talking about. But that was not part of the stipulation.

    In the right setting, I, personally can take something of interest and basically shove it inside someone's bag, which is what I did.

    I spied on the notebook the other day, it all goes into statistics and they keep some amount of feedback. But they don't know what they are doing. They are making a notebook of information and entering it into a computer. I just do stuff, actual tangible things like food and people, and it works really well and is a lot of fun, but this is on a human level which seems to be foreign or unknown to the experts.


    As bad as public sorcery may be, it is a paper tiger and weak as ash when you confront it in the open.

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