Post B1CwPyiVlGw64w26gi by GreenSkyOverMe@ohai.social
(DIR) More posts by GreenSkyOverMe@ohai.social
(DIR) Post #B1CmpoJI4qGbn2unyq by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-12-13T12:08:46Z
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I've had a few conversations on here about the corrosive impact of advertising and whenever I do I always see one comment that I sympathize with, but all find concerning. "At this point when I see ads it makes me want the product less."I think nearly everyone has felt this way from time to time, and yet the "adspace" keeps expanding to new frontiers and levels of obnoxiousness. Advertisers know that their ads are effective. Even on people who have promised themselves they aren't.
(DIR) Post #B1Cn3L2zfkkZ5Sk8Yq by TheSecondVariation@graz.social
2025-12-13T12:11:10Z
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@futurebird One thing that is often forgotten is that most ads is just taking away the ad space from competitors.Everybody knows Coca-Cola but would love to maybe try some different soda, therefore Coca-Cola buys the ad-space away from competitors so they never appear on peoples radar.
(DIR) Post #B1Cn3tQZqZohiS2S2a by Martin_Pigeon@mamot.fr
2025-12-13T12:11:18Z
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@futurebird they do. The point, I think, is creating associated memories and familiarity. Most will forget why this product feels familiar, even if the reason was being annoyed by yet another ad.
(DIR) Post #B1Cn8w4PRx41ML4fRY by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-12-13T12:12:16Z
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I had some friends at uni who studied advertising. And this was in the early 2000s so long long ago, nonetheless they were doing this thing where they cataloged total add exposure for an average person. I thought it was funny to volunteer since I have never owned a TV and have always avoided ads. Nonetheless my minder found that I was exposed to over 100 ads per day, shop windows, branded clothing, billboards, at the ATM etc. Their more typical subject had exposure pushing 800.
(DIR) Post #B1CnOFxVmo1HO39ZaK by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-12-13T12:15:02Z
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I guess I find the "ads do the reverse on ME" notion unhelpful because it seem like by saying that you won't be around to fight the growth of the ad space with the rest of us. We could vastly limit this stuff and it could improve quality of life so much. It could also save media from being so corrupted.
(DIR) Post #B1CnkzG0370mFPdjWK by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-12-13T12:19:08Z
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@Martin_Pigeon I think realizing this makes people uncomfortable. And it should. That's why this isn't just a surface matter.
(DIR) Post #B1Co37a3qCv5H7fcq8 by noplasticshower@infosec.exchange
2025-12-13T12:22:23Z
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@futurebird I had some friends who founded advertising.com in the '90s. They got rich as hell. They aren't my friends anymore.https://advertising.com/about-us/
(DIR) Post #B1Co4om4jVv3Wn6Ce0 by petealexharris@mastodon.scot
2025-12-13T12:22:42Z
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@futurebird Even if advertisers knew ads were becoming less effective as people become irritated by them, they would always respond by trying to compensate with more ads. Ads is what they do, they won't do less of them unless opposed by financial or regulatory constraints.
(DIR) Post #B1Co5WaDqwa9OltMHI by davep@infosec.exchange
2025-12-13T12:22:44Z
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@futurebird
(DIR) Post #B1Co88xCABDQyvszZo by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-12-13T12:23:20Z
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@davep It's a simple ham-fisted movie but it's so good.
(DIR) Post #B1CoPBYxiQslzrg43M by davep@infosec.exchange
2025-12-13T12:26:24Z
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@futurebird It's so ham-fisted and cheesy, but so good.I love the extended fight scene. It's a bit like the Sideshow Bob rake scene in that it gets boring and then funny again.š
(DIR) Post #B1CoisLMskVOBHhwsi by davep@infosec.exchange
2025-12-13T12:29:57Z
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@futurebird It's why I stick with Firefox (for manifest V2 and ad-blocking goodness), Pi-hole and Duckduckgo app tracking protection. Between the three I'm more or less free of corporate ad-based tracking.
(DIR) Post #B1CopjPIVTAyUXoaVk by wjmaggos@liberal.city
2025-12-13T12:31:08Z
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@futurebird I see fedi growth as a direct attack on the advertising model. that all media will be decentralized and require human boosts to get attention. but then we also need an alternative support system for creators. direct automatic donations based on time consuming media would be my preference. #PublicPatron
(DIR) Post #B1Cp36ZZgiyS6U007k by toni@zug.network
2025-12-13T12:33:34Z
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@futurebird I know an advertising person and I do a lot to avoid the topic when we meet. We could have been better friends, if she worked in a less predatory creative industry.At one point she told my friends, she was convinced I was jealous because she made more money than me? Nope, I just donāt like what she does.I once talked to her about how fucked up targeted advertising is, and that it probably doesnāt really work better than the old method of advertising in spaces related to your product. She didnāt see the problem.Well, most tech people donāt see the problems in the tech industry either. Which is more annoying to me, because thatās who I have to work with daily. :neocat_laugh_sweat:
(DIR) Post #B1Cp6CUa8V3zKb8izw by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-12-13T12:34:10Z
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@Lily_and_frog I have the syndrome from maxheadroom where too many ads may well cause me to explode and die. This is why I must live very carefully.
(DIR) Post #B1CpDEE05orajQjdgW by darkling@mstdn.social
2025-12-13T12:35:24Z
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@futurebird I think it's possible to reject the effect of ads, but it involves acknowledging their existence and effectiveness, and actively and consciously examining anything that you might purchase as to whether you've been swayed by an ad in that decision. It's a lot of work.
(DIR) Post #B1CpZBw1Htl004nVke by lffontenelle@mastodon.social
2025-12-13T12:39:17Z
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@futurebird Remember the urban legend about inserting advertising frames in movies? I guess we'd know by now if it worked. But: if 800 ads was the 2000s, by now ads (including those by influencers) must be so numerous they approach ambient noise for chronically-online people without ad blockers. I guess the advertisers' dream has finally come true.
(DIR) Post #B1CqjTDfyhPcSSWNtI by DamonWakes@mastodon.sdf.org
2025-12-13T12:52:15Z
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@futurebird There are specific products I won't buy out of spite because the ads are so obnoxious. Super Noodles is on the list for a a TV ad that's been on for years and consists almost entirely of a single sustained yell. Sugar Puffs are another: possibly not their fault, but I can still remember a jingle they had playing over and over in a long queue for a theme park ride.
(DIR) Post #B1CtEoLTgNDyrdF6fY by paulc@mstdn.social
2025-12-13T13:20:32Z
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@futurebird We used to have an ad director who put up various quotes on the wall one was ā50% of advertising works. But we donāt know which ads are in that to%ā Iām paraphrasing of course.
(DIR) Post #B1CtbI2Byq5XJUwO92 by paulc@mstdn.social
2025-12-13T13:24:35Z
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@futurebird one issue is whether ads are intrusive. While I find web advertising very intrusively there are some ads, eg banner ads every 2 paragraphs, more intrusive than others. I find magazine ads much less intrusive, with the except of those horrible ads that include perfume scents, than web ads. Product placement in moves can be inattrusive but more insidious. Gas pump ads, a crime against humanity.
(DIR) Post #B1CwNVzDbsOGORfmzI by epicdemiologist@wandering.shop
2025-12-13T13:55:42Z
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@futurebird I wonder how long it will be before companies start "fake advertising" in annoying or offensive ways for their competition's products.There's a particular brand of sour cream I won't buy because I hate their jingle.There's a local shop I won't patronize because they have a racist slogan.We got a coupon in the mail for a free pizza that was apparently defective or fake--I wonder if it even came from the pizza place whose name was on it.
(DIR) Post #B1CwPyiVlGw64w26gi by GreenSkyOverMe@ohai.social
2025-12-13T13:56:10Z
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@futurebird Wow, thatās extreme, 800, I would not have guessed that.When I was little, in the East Bloc, ads were illegal, so I was only exposed to them at age 9. It was a bit confusing and on TV I could not always tell which parts are ads.
(DIR) Post #B1D0g24BTWdMuv54pk by johnzajac@dice.camp
2025-12-13T14:43:52Z
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@futurebird Digital advertising isn't "effective" in the way most people think it is. While it *can* drive awareness, like TV or OOH, it's the rare campaign online that actually translates into real *sales*. And usually, those sales are from the creative having a measurable cultural impact, not from actionable digital placements (e.g. "clickthroughs")The reality is that advertisers know their ads mostly *do not* work, but our economy is pretty much a human centipede of media dollars.
(DIR) Post #B1D1a8pxUPPq8GBLAO by johnzajac@dice.camp
2025-12-13T14:46:41Z
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@futurebird The real shift has been in the last decade, as traditional brand-building ads have started to appear mostly online and TV/broadcast has declined. Despite just being a TV ad except on a streamer, the success of these campaigns have been shoveled onto "digital", which in 2006 (when I started in digital advertising) was extremely specific but has essentially become everything, including OOH, direct, promotional, CRM etc etc etc.This has dramatically improved digital's metrics.
(DIR) Post #B1D1aA0H9XGLkY15t2 by johnzajac@dice.camp
2025-12-13T14:50:21Z
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@futurebird Which in turn has led to an explosion of digital sub-channels and, consequently, *budgets* and entire teams of people across a dozen companies whose purpose is to justify their budget through "metrics".It's through these "metrics" that advertisers "know" that their ads work. And which continue the mouthshitting centipedal economy that is so central to the United States' GDP.Narrative storytelling in advertising can literally change people, just like theatre and cinema can.
(DIR) Post #B1D1aBLw8UBRw19uHw by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-12-13T14:54:01Z
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@johnzajac Some artists have done some of the best work of their lives in the context of advertising. Can we tease out and enjoy the art from the commerce? I think of Andy Warhol who started as a commercial illustrator and of course that ended up informing his work as he later made work that was all about 'advertising' and it more pernicious and complex place in our lives. But drawing on Madison Ave. was how he first made his rent.
(DIR) Post #B1D1iR0hnzQEoRABHM by paninid@mastodon.world
2025-12-13T14:55:30Z
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@futurebird @johnzajac https://mastodon.world/@paninid/115673593117909724
(DIR) Post #B1D1tcXdH0WrlEtlJY by johnzajac@dice.camp
2025-12-13T14:57:33Z
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@futurebird I guess it all boils down to what you think art is, and your answer to the question "can art have the same purpose as advertising?" As someone who started as a professional stage director and opera singer and moved into advertising because this is a shithole country, it took me ten years to disambiguate the two. That process has gotten even harder since because very little is created without commerce or commerce-dependent NPOs and foundations driving it.But the answer is no.
(DIR) Post #B1D2POUD48KZR6RqU4 by johnzajac@dice.camp
2025-12-13T15:02:52Z
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@futurebird It's telling that Warhol's entire art career was built around his understanding of and critique of popular and ubiquitous industrial art, e.g. design, and how the requirements of advertising subvert and impact the presentation of discursive artistic effort. The reality is that art is the mechanism by which humanity expresses vitality itself, whereas advertising is how brands tap into that mechanism to parasitically ride it to parasocial intimacy and eventually market dominance.
(DIR) Post #B1D4P96QSfT5dJKhBw by clarablackink@writing.exchange
2025-12-13T15:25:38Z
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@futurebird @johnzajac I dislike many advertisments, especially the ones with disclaimers because you just know those are deeply unethical, I'm already encountering a few for that company that lets you put bets on everything. They did hire solid ad folks so I think they'll be quite effective in their venture but they added the disclaimer: legal in all 50 states and just...oh, you know this is toxic as hell.But, I've done a bit of advertising as my work and in order to promote my work...
(DIR) Post #B1D4WExR5hiXoqVjGa by paulc@mstdn.social
2025-12-13T15:26:56Z
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@futurebird @johnzajac Frank Davis was the best. First learned of him from Mad Magazine and then noticed his art in ads. Of the 2 I strongly suspect the advertising work paid better. This was true for many comic book artists in the 60s and 70s.
(DIR) Post #B1D5Kpf8tg2E8X4umG by clarablackink@writing.exchange
2025-12-13T15:28:58Z
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@futurebird @johnzajac It is a really interesting field that can be quite artful and can teach you so much about people's tastes and needs.Its always down to the ethics in terms of how bad or good a field is. Our advertisers have no ethics, they often hire people who lack any exposure to ethics and it makes advertising feel gross.But, if you've ever found a "product" you didn't know existed because someone else figured out you would like it...that's the essence of advertising.
(DIR) Post #B1D5KrKegoprJZVa7c by clarablackink@writing.exchange
2025-12-13T15:32:51Z
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@futurebird @johnzajac It isn't only these gross, coercive advertisers digging in your trash and cookies to find blackmail material on your tastes, interests and needs. It isn't just companies breaking your windows in order to sell their special window repair service and security systems.Its also a bookseller asking you what you like to read and then searching their knowledge base to pick a book they're pretty sure you'll love.I think that's where art overlaps with advertising...
(DIR) Post #B1D5Ksh1d8K7XEyxd2 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-12-13T15:36:04Z
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@clarablackink @johnzajac It's different when it's a particular person who is asking you to buy something vs. a company that's just asking everyone. With a person you matter enough to take a moment of their time. You can respond say "hey that was too pushy" or just enjoy what they are offering. It's the "mass" individuality stripping nature that's hostile. The Colgate company doesn't care about my teeth. Amazon doesn't care if I have a "warm holiday" but they talk like they do.
(DIR) Post #B1D5hUjerzTPtOzrNY by clarablackink@writing.exchange
2025-12-13T15:40:11Z
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@futurebird @johnzajac Absolutely agree. It speaks to their constant use of coercion and their constant efforts to eliminate people's ability to consent.The biggest crime of a monopoly is that erosion of consent.
(DIR) Post #B1D60sHtWlTMRNFez2 by rustoleumlove@mastodon.online
2025-12-13T15:43:39Z
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@futurebird this is why i laugh when people get mad about graffitiother than some anti-fascist stickers i havent done any real street graffiti in years, my stuff is almost always on trains...but we are subjected to an onslaught of constant advertisement, so the harsh words many people have for tags tends to amuse me.(i'd prefer clean surfaces in general, so if we have to deal with ads then i dont see much of a problem with graffiti even if i do agree that some of it is really ugly)
(DIR) Post #B1D6MzEQOGJyLdAkPw by gray17@mastodon.social
2025-12-13T15:47:40Z
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@futurebird this is the one thing I'd do with watch-my-life AI: tell it to nudge me away from any product that's been advertised to me
(DIR) Post #B1DktJXGQtdMkhxDFI by andymandias@mastodon.social
2025-12-13T23:21:42Z
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@futurebird there are also brands/advertisers that market specifically to people who see themselves this way (e.g. CostCo), but my experience this always gets handwaved away as simply a rational choice