Nathan AdlerAs global warming deepens, and a somber, new reality sinks in, people are starting to ask some uncomfortable questions: Why am I being told to buy a new car a dozen times every day? Why am I constantly being urged to splurge on myself ‘because I’m worth it’? Why, in this ecological age of ours, do we need a $500-billion industry telling us thousands of times each day to consume more? In the affluent West (where 80 percent of the global ad dollars are spent), don’t we already consume enough?

The industry is trying very hard to ward off this kind of thinking. Al Gore was given the rock star treatment at its annual bash in Cannes this year. Young & Rubicam ceo Hamish McLennan, recently told the New York Times: “The consumer sentiment out there is just palpable . . . we have to change the way people consume.” MTV’s slick new campaign, created by six of America’s top agencies and slated to be shown in 162 countries, is all about “environmentally friendly lifestyle choices among youth.” The copy on their web site, MTVswitch.com, reads: “OK, so we like to consume – that’s fine – Switch isn’t here to tell you to start hugging trees and become an eco-warrior – although it’s fine, if that’s what you’re into. Nah, all we’re here to do is ask you to make little changes to the way you consume. So small are these changes that you won’t even notice them.”

Andrew PeatMeanwhile, an even more ominous threat to the industry is looming: People are starting to blame invasive advertising for the stress in their lives. A few of generations ago, people encountered only a few dozen ads in a typical day. Today, 3,000 marketing messages a day flow into the average North American brain. That’s more hype, clutter, sex and violence than many of us can handle on top of all the other pressures of modern life. So, to avoid the stress, the invasion of privacy, the information overload, the erosion of empathy, people are switching off on ad-infested TV, magazines and web sites. There are also fledgling movements now to tax ads, to ban them from schools and even cities (see “São Paolo: A City Without Ads,” later in this issue).

The fun image that advertising has traditionally enjoyed is now giving way to a much darker picture of advertising as mental pollution. As more and more people make the connection between advertising and their own mental health, the ad game will be changed forever.

COMMENTS:

I think the people that made this site just want to rebel against something and they decided on ads. Have you ever stopped to think why there are commercials on TV advertising there products? The company puts there commercial on TV to sell there product but has to pay the broadcasters to actually get it on the air which is how we have TV shows. If company's didn't advertise there products then they would make no money because there product would be unknown. Advertising makes you money and makes you known if your out shopping and you see stop n shop next to a little store (we'll say jack and jill's grocery) which place are people going to buy there things from? Stop n shop of course because of a few reasons not just advertising. Stop n Shop advertises which makes people go there which makes them money which gives them a big store, shopping carts, employees, and selection in products, while jack and jill's grocery might be as big as a 7/11. You see it's not advertising that makes companies better it's the results from the advertising and the money they get from the advertising that makes them better. I found this website through an AD for adbusters.com...seriously...are you guys that retarded?
Steve

Interesting stuff and the predominance of consumption as the dominant mode of activity in Western society is, at the very least, plain odd. I do have a couple of questions about the article and its validity though. Firstly, what tangible evidence is there that advertising is being blamed as a stress factor? Are there any studies on this, or is this assertion anecdotal? Secondly, you trot out the three thousand marketing messages per day statistic an unreferenced stat' to be seen in many a textbook on advertising. What is your evidence for this? Surely this figure at best equates to brand logos of which Adbusters is one I should add as well as advertising. As such I find the hype, clutter, sex and violence characterisation grossly misleading. I have strong sympathies with the Adbusting cause and am a subscriber. However, if the ills of overconsumption are to be tackled in any way, we need to be clear on what the target is and the best way to address it. Woolly thinking only leads to obfuscation, however inspiring the rabble-rousing is.
Andy

positive change, positive reinforcement, fighting the core. divide to the advert corruptors next to the millions of drones... we'll all die soon, let's make the children aware of all this nonsequential bullshit before we do. Prepare them for the battle, the war we'll have on mental Pollution (ie. technologies.) they have prepared. Have you notice the abundant installation of cameras on building, fast food joints, street corners, your physician's office, the stair hallway into your apartment, down the street of you house your neighbor just installed security cameras. Enough of this jimjamboree. Point is, they've up us one bit. Yes, it's for security purposes, but soon or later, we will not be able to distinguish the difference between spying and gathering information. Obviously both have its negative vibe to them. I'll leave you guys with that.
Dr. Who

Although I agree with Carissa's statement. I would also very much like to see a change in our world. Between the radio and TV which I can no longer suffer through and the junkmail and endless flyers and billboards. Something needs to be done...or at least regulated. What happened to being in control of your fax machine? I get at least 10 unwanted Ads every day by fax. Not only is that a huge waste of paper, but it's also far too intrusive. My soon to be career as a graphic designer might suffer quite a bit from an advertisement crackdown, but my restless mind says it's worth it.
Lazarus C. Kauffman

I agree with Mike. Since I came to this country I entirely stopped watching TV.
M

I am a Letter Carrier, and on our front, the advert business seems to rule. Canada Post seems to care more about the delivery of Fliers and Admail than the regular mail belonging to the citizens...you and me! Our publicly run Post Offce has become the whipping boy of big business and their drive of your consumption. Anyone may say that this is due to the computer age, but I can assure you that people still have more confidence in the security of the old fashioned postal system than that of the cyber system. My aching back can attest to this as the real mail is still alive and kicking! This is nothing but another ploy to privatize public interests, so that big business may promote and profit from yet another type of consumerism. And as for mental stress, just ask a letter carrier; any fliers that are extra, need to be signed by the boss before they are disposed of. With an explanation of why you are throwing them out. And management goes out on to your route to rifle through peoples mail boxes to ensure that the carriers are delivering all of their fliers. Miss a house, and you're looking at a 35 day suspension without pay!
Amanda

The message in advertisements, however implicit, is often that a person has some inadequacy or flaw in some aspect of their life that can be easily remedied by buying the product they will become happy, younger-looking, thinner, cooler, more popular, or more attractive. Over time, this tends to make people become continually self-critical and chronically unsatisfied habitual spenders. Furthermore, the constant production and shipping of goods is a drain on global resources and increases pollution, as well as contributing to climate change.
Albi

Is it truly possible to completely avoid advertising and advertisers without slipping into an inauthentic existence unless of course, you retreat from civilization entirely?
J.R. Dobbs

It figures your from Canada
Steve

do you as social consuming using spending people be okay with sticking it to the man? do you be ok with helping strangers for the same cause? we are afraid to step out because it could all turn nasty. i'm dying inside...and i'm too young. all my friends are slowly dying. i have a suspicion its consumerism. who's going to help?
rachel

Television (with the exception of public tele channels) relies on ads for funding. Cut the funding, you cut the shows too. No more Lost, no CSI, etc etc. You could watch public tv, rent dvds, or just don't have a tv in your apartment or house. You could play ad-free Scrabble. or Zombies!!!
Ben H.

in response to carissa's reply, I say this: no doubt people can and should make their own choices and live what they deem healthy lives, but the fact of the matter is that a vast many people don't. Cigarettes are a good example of this. Drinking soda and eating fast food are good examples of this. Laziness is a good example of people exercising poor health, and yet... WHERE HAVE SO MANY FOUND THEMSELVES?! not only is the sad truth that many choose unhealthy lifestyles, but it is also that we are brought up in a world which quietly teaches us to be extremely vulnerable to marketing, and you know that as well as I, and any other blessed enough to ponder the systems of control. In fact, I have directly witnessed advertising affect the self-image, and thereby actions and spending patterns of countless people: just take a look at makeup. YOU'RE NOT PRETTY ENOUGH! even if we have to be subtle in enforcing this sentiment BUY OUR BRAND AND YOU'LL BE PRETTY ENOUGH!! don't look into our abusive exploitation of humanity and the world over for cheap labor. don't acknowledge our lack of compassion for any real humanity. but none of this is the point. the point isn't even that people are often weak and susceptible to media advertising though they are!, what IS of importance is the fact that advertising is propaganda in the most basic of forms and it decimates actual commonwealth culture that we all should hold sacred. To make the basic observation, marketing is the siren that lures us into the leech infested waters. but you already know that. there is a system that has been built before and around us without any consent, and it includes money, and hierarchy, and systemization, and engineered history, and wars, and advertising, and soul-sucking, and it is my opinion that the allowed prevalence of this GARBAGE will only further our descent into personal dissatisfaction. don't disdain advertising because it deteriorates culture... well, ok, do that, but more importantly disdain advertising because of what it is, stands for, perpetuates, and makes us become. THEY HAVE SHAPED THE OPTIONS IN OUR LIVES, AND FRANKLY I AM SICK OF CHOOSING BETWEEN DIFFERENT BRANDS OF EVENTUAL LANDFILL MATERIAL THAT HAPPEN TO REST ON THE SAME SHELF, PHYSICAL OR NOT!!! i don't know... it's hard not to get angry, but seriously it appears very much so as though anyone who supports the agenda is either ignorantly stubborn to no avail, or simply a disinformation agent, as it were.
Dashiell

eMpTyV
Masuko

Let's use the adv power in a better way: we should try to analyze its existence chance from the roots and when we know, try to influence its growth, try to switch its sense, exploit its power in favour of human non-commercial intelligence and knowledge.
HH

Carissa, maybe it would help to think of mental health the way we do physical health. People's mental health falls along a continuum, with some naturally being healthier than others. Then "nuture" factors kick in, events in the day to day living environment. Most of these again are not choices, but happenstances, wrong place at the right time. In fact I think your position in part reinforces what I perceive to be the author's message; by being bombarded with other's thoughts presented in an intrusive manner, one cannot ponder one's self-generated thoughts without interruption. Don't forget your brain registers these inputs, whether you perceive you're acting or not acting on their prompts. It's a classic case of "don't think of a pink elephant."
netminn0

"Buying the Package" Notes: words and music by Malvina Reynolds; copyright 1976 Schroder Music Company, renewed 2004. Chorus: You're buying the package, You're buying the dream, You pay for the ads On the television screen, They sell you a story, They sell you a mood, But what they don't deliver is food. Colors, preservatives, Poison or not. Just so it sells And is sure not to rot. Colorings, additives, Nothing is real, No sensible maggot Would call it a meal. Chorus Movie star glamour, The ad man's display, Pay at the check out And take it away, The package it comes in More nourishing far Than stuff in the box Or the jar. Chorus The label it reads Like an alchemist's dream, You look at the contents And what does it mean? Profits for business And nothing for you, But sugar and grief, And a wheat flake or two. Chorus Refined till its tasteless, And taste added in, The stockmarket rises, Executives grin, They'd never get rich If you ate what you should, There's profit in ads So why bother with food? Chorus Movie star glamour And slogans that stick, What do they care If the stuff makes you sick? Big corporations Have better to do Than think of the health Of the customer, too. Chorus
deborah

I think I like what Mike Smith said, because when I was a kid those TV commercials in between cartoons really got me wanting to buy stuff, not just toys but even stuff for adults and teens like antiwrinkle cream or hair removal wax, and I see it in my brother now too. He'll jump up and point and shout and want something. meh. But I don't know about uncut movies. Maybe instead of a commercial in between a little blurb about the movie from the director or something because people might want to go to the bathroom and not be able to rewind it if they don't have something like Tivo.
Blacklight

Yawn. This is nothing new. They said the same thing about print advertising, then about radio advertising, then, for the last 55 years, about television advertising. Wake up. Nothing is going to change. As long as there is media there is going to be advertising and as long as there are products people are going to buy them. The number of people who actually worry about such things are statistically such a tiny blip that they are, for all practical purposes, nonexistant.
Chuck

consuming less is freedom
gustavoariel

Hi, I like to think I live in a carbon neutral culture. I mean truly, none of the offset company bollocks. I have put a lot of thought into averting catastrophic global warming and I estimate we have at least 10 years. Some things just don't work, such as washing at 30, or cycling to South Africa. But equally I have found technofixes such as a washing line. Don't laugh, it works for me and saves 100kg a year plus I enjoy the garden more. I am cultivating some potatoes my housemates wasted in some old tyres. I haven't flown since 2005. It's fun. Check out the camp for climate action. There are also two similar convergences in the states. Camping in the shadow of a powerstation is something everyone can do, and as a result know where their power comes from.
Ben

The science of deprogramming victims of the consumer culture will be a prerequisite to the creation of a new culture with a new ethic. Adbusters is writing the how to book of this new science as I write, just don't forget to include lots of humor.
JayBrophy

Methane gas from shit and other sorts are preventing us from understanding why this article is preventing us from understanding. STOP THE WALLSTREET VALIDATED DEMOCRAT WASH.
Guy Ritchie

Coming from London, where public space is relatively free from advertising and thus more private, I find visiting America very stressful. Watching tv in the US is actually impossible, so frequent and intrusive are the adverts; in fact the only programs that aren't disturbed by ads are infomercials so I just watch those when I'm there.
Mike Troughton

First thing to do is ban all advertising on tv and radio news shows and sporting events. This would include ads hidden as newsreports and no sponsors. Then, ban all for-profit ads on children's television shows. Movies will be shown uncut without commercials like many countries in Europe do.
Mike Smith

"Blaming advertising for a person's mental health is juvenile." Sure, we can ignore advertising; how does one do this in a society absolutely saturated with media advertising? Close our eyes? Wear ear plugs? No, I don't think ignoring advertising is possible when it's everywhere you look. Even if one tried to ignore the massive bombardment of advertising, it would require a tremendous expenditure of energy and effort. Besides, the act of ignoring precludes you are aware of the very thing you are trying to ignore. You could try to ignore a screaming baby or the wailing of emergency vehicle sirens, but it's unlikely to be effective. Besides, ignoring that you are being bombarded is ignorant, not responsible. Perhaps retreating to a simpler life in nature is the key.
Revin Floyd

It's time to wake up!
LELA

carissa, taking away advertisements IS one of those choices of responsibility we have to make our health, and society better...
isaac

Advertising brainwash, massive consumption, corporate business – I know, let's make ads about it, sell lots of t-shirts and become ecofatcats, yeah!!
Trousers

Kalle, you're the man. It's about time we heard some positivity. Yes, there is a huge change in the pipes, and your magazine and website are major contributors to this... Keep up the good work.
SK Gibb

I tried the switching off TV thing. For about 3 months. Wow I woke up in the morning fresh and relaxed. People watch TV to relax after a hard day at work. Wrong, it doesn't work! You want to relax, try selling your tv and see what happens. No, don't get angry trying to argue against me, get angry and sell your TV, then see who was right!
Leon

I used to listen to a commercial radio station; I used to watch television. After I switched to college radio and DVDs, the constant interruptions of materialistic soundbites MST3K, one of the last commercial television programs I ever watched became too intrusive. Only after the assault stops can one understand how much annoyance it caused.
tensor

As much as I hate ads and often times their products even more, as a musician it's hard not to get anywhere without advertising yourself. Not only can it be annoying for the ad viewer but it can be annoying for the up-and-comer who is trying to compete with the big guys. Bottom line: advertising = frustration.
Rosie Walunas

I've never believed in ADD (or ADHD as I believe it is now commonly known). I hate the thought that millions of people are taking ritalin to cope with this fake illness. Then I learned something about it. Rightly or wrongly, I learned that it's not so much a deficit of attention as it is an inability to turnoff attention to every detail in the environment. This really resonated with me because I realized that I was looking into a mirror! I can't help but notice every detail of everything around me. My case of ADHD has probably helped me a lot. But I realize now that it is probably because of ADHD that I hate advertising. I cannot turn it off! So I don't watch TV and I don't listen to radio. I hate bill boards and other public space advertising because I cannot simply ignore it, try as I might. If this is a condition that many others suffer from it appears that it is, then we might be able to leverage this – and not just cynically, but quite sincerly – to justify a ban on outdoor advertizing! Somebody should check the residents of Sao Paulo to see if there is an unusually high rate of ADHD there. Perhaps that's why they are leading the field in this. I love adbusters!
Dan

maybe we should thank the advertisers for making us feel better about rooting the planet
ketchup

I think that blaming advertising for a person's mental health is juvenile. It is our responsiblility to make choices in our own lives that deem we live HEALTHY lives. It is possible to ignore advertising and advertisers – people have been doing this for years.
carissa

Your office clothes were heaped on the floor after Friday night's work's do, and now as you wake from a swampy erectile dream you are some two feet shorter, your hands brown, your arms brown. Sun filters in dry stabs through multicoloured clothes overhead. Rubbing fingers feel scabby mucus in your eye. "Have I become an Indian?" you ask. Then you are knocked from your feet. Scrubbing yourself stretched up you are standing once more and suddenly joyous: twenty years younger, this is what springy bones are, well-trimmed muscles, a belly that has never tasted beer! You scamper the street through heavy adults vegetable-laden, or carting boxes, bags, tins. What joy to be bouncing near-naked in the dust! But now you have an itch. Who will feed you? Out comes the hand, I'm hungry, let me eat. Your fingernails, you notice, are long, and arms, hips push you away. Eyes will not look at you. The rejection is like tumbling from a bridge. You spy a fetid bin, unearth some pieces of peeling and crouch with your bum at your heels and knees to your nose. You suck the peels as past you passes a living wall of butterfat adults. And while you are sitting a girl your own age runs seeming-terrified past your spot, epileptic arms fighting the air. Did she, too, work in an office, you wonder, before waking to find herself another superfluous soul?
Rafael

carissa, we cannot filter out the white noise that assaults our senses as we zoom past their cleverly placed ads, positioned to infiltrate our lives at every turn, no more then we could turn off our senses as they are being invaded by the scent of McDonald's fake food as it pungently wafts through the air as we sit at an intersection, waiting for our light to change.
shannon

Some of the posters here seem to think that if advertising were banned (ah, let me dream!), then all of the TeeVee screens will go blank. Two comments: 1) We'd all be better off. 2) It wouldn't happen! When they sold us the idea of cable in the seventies, they said "Sure, you have to pay a little, but IT'S ADFREE!" Suckers! Like it or not, TeeVee would survive without ads.
frank wild

"work in advertising. find out how dumb, self-serving, smug, arrogant, egotistically fragile, venal and boring ad people really are. Do an analysis of variance in relation to how smart, creative, conceptual and sexy they think they are. if you work in advertising, kill yourself." — A famous Comedian.
guy

I have gone without television much of the last eight years or so. Occasionally when it is delivered free to my home I will take another trial run at having it. I am always surprised at the changes I see. I find that without television and advertising invading my space I am much happier with my own life and surroundings. It is getting harder and harder to distinguish between advertising and entertainment in some areas. Part of me is a fledgling interior decorator and I enjoy to some extent watching the home improvement shows. Unfortunately a side effect of those shows is dissatisfaction with my home as is. Advertising in these situations has been elevated to entertainment. After the show we can go to our local Home Hardware, purchase the paints, supplies, tools etc and do it ourselves. I used to watch Extreme Makeover Home Edition and like that it showed the best of what the human race had to offer. We are capable of helping each other, not just judging, condemning and killing. I am sure Sears gets their money back out of their investment in advertising entertainment. How do we eliminate advertising when the advertisement has become the entertainment?
Linda

Regarding funding for TV shows, did you realize that cable television used to be ad-free. The funding is supplied directly by the viewers. This ad-free approach was the allure. Now, consumers still pay, yet advertisers are present. This kind of blows the whole "where does the funding come" from argument out of the water.
Sarah

If we returned to the gold standard... and cut off all advertising... we would return to life where money is not of great concern. Jack and Jill wouldn't need advertising, Steve.
Scott

"As a private person, I have a passion for landscape, and have never seen one improved by a billboard. Where every prospect pleases, man is at his vilest when he erects a billboard. When I retire from Madison Avenue, I am going to start a secret society of masked vigilantes who will travel around the world on silent motor bicycles, chopping down posters at the dark of the moon. How many juries will convict us when we are caught in these acts of beneficent citizenship?" — David Ogilvy, founder of the Ogilvy Et Mather advertising agency, in Confessions of an Advertising Man, 1963.
Frida

There's a thin line between reality and illusion. As for ads? I'll leave the decision up to you. Scott I like your idea. Money shouldn't mean so much, after all it's just paper.
Ray

Chuck, nothing is new except your consciousness. The singular incarnation of your being is new. From the impersonal perspective of statistics a single consciousness is insignificant; However, from your unique perspective, Chuck, it is very significant. It is everything you are, know, and believe. Once you acknowledged this reality the question arises, What shapes this consciousness this statistically insignificant and otherwise unquantifiable 'thing' that is, at the same time, everything? If, in the course of investigating that question, you should happen to find that certain things contort your consciousness into twisted shapes, you may think it worth while to share your findings. Perhaps others will find them useful. Perhaps by sharing you can, quite literally, save the world. Even if it's only for one person.
James Brennan

Steve, Is that what ads are??? Oh man, you know it just gets so complicated out there it's good to have somebody like you to break it down for us. In retrospect, you're right, we were all looking to rebel against something and we just picked ads... I think we should make haste and find something new to rebel against: I suggest the new rebellion be targeted at rubber chickens. Just a thought... In all seriousness, Steve, I'm pretty sure everyone on this site knows the role that an advertisement is supposed to play in the marketplace. However, a deeper examination of today's advertising philosophy reveals that ads no longer are selling products, they're selling lifesyles and worldviews. Specifically, a lifestyle of endless consumption and a worldview that's limited and dangerous. Dangerous environmentally, economically, militarily, and spiritually. The purpose of this website, and indeed this movement, is not to abolish advertisements or the media. Our slogan is "Know the media, be the media, change the media." Imagine what a better place this would be if instead of seeing the same sixteen thousand ads selling a cool new shampoo or a world-changing mop, we saw a couple, just a few ads for things that might actually be important to the world.
Sofa King We Todd Did

Steve, a few tips: before you call someone retarded, learn a few rules about the english language – such as what a sentence is and how to spell – then learn a thing or two about the issues you're responding to. In other words, try not to sound like such a retard.
shane

Isn't this fight fruitless? I agree we are a society obsessed with consumption, however, what is the alternative? Spend less? Not shop at Nike? Avoid Wal Mart? What people don't realize is that the only way to not contribute to consumption is to not earn anything. Even if you are the most politically active culture jammer, chances are you need to make a living. Thus, most likely you have a bank account where you keep your money. If you consciously make a decision to spend as little as possible and keep all your earned money in the bank, someone else will spend it! That's how a bank works! There is not solution to anticonsumerism as their is no opponent to fight. Like it or not making money makes consumerism, which in turn makes ads, making countercultural movements like anti-advertising companies make more money so that adverting companies can then use these countercultural movements to make even more money. Is there no Solution?
Dandy.F

It's a shame that William Gibson did not read this article before publishing Spook Country, which I estimate features more the 400 brand names, celebrity namechecks, and the like.
Sam Pratt

I think it's all well and good that people are here talking about this, but what about action? Awareness is wonderful and that is the point of this forum, but I want to meet and hear of others living with a bit of conviction. It's time for change, personal or on a grand scale, not a chat. It's not necessarily the companies that are at fault but the consumer, us, so why don't we take back the control our government is supposed to allow us. We give them power the same as major corporations. Use your heads and do something. Vote, grow your own food, stop buying cheap trash literature, cut back on spending, go vegan, whatever it is you feel, but do it in your own life first.
Caitlin

Retarded Steve? Jack and Jill's tiny mom and pop shop is the corner stone of America's communities. If more people bought local and supported their own communities all the environmental waste and advertising bombardment wouldn't be necessary. Who's to say bigger is better? Do I really need a super shopping cart with rocket boosters on the side and processed meat imported from who knows where because some huge billboard told me stop and shop is good. Support your local farmers, big corporations are the devil, and don't believe everything you read.
Tina

First off, steve, no I wouldn't shop at stop 'n shop just like I wouldn't shop at Walmart. Huge corporations like wal-mart and like stop 'n shop are bad for this country. I would go to the mom and pop store, if it existed, sadly though they are disappearing. I think this was a great article, I've lived in this country my entire life and was a chronic watcher of t.v. A few months ago I realized what it was doing to me (the shit that is on there, the commercials, reality t.v etc. etc) so I stopped. I recently had to watch it again, and was astounded by the number of commercials and was glad that I stopped watching it.
Alyce

steve, you must be devoid of common sense!!!!
dak

Kalle, you're a queen mixer. This is a bold statement you have made...though very timely. The tension in the commen freeworld brain is tangible to say the least. Not only are they realizing the downside to multinational advert. camps., people are starting to figure out that there will never be a world where everyone has millions in the bank, degrees on the wall, and a secure future on the horizon. A great social puberty is underway. And thank goodness. Progress can not be made unless we deviate from the norm.
K. Cawood

As much as so many people want to say that advertising is important for business to work or that getting rid of them isn't important for the world I'll admit it's not the most important thing, it's more important than they realize. The main reason that people waste money is advertising. It doesn't just tell them what to buy, it tells them to buy things they may have not bought otherwise. I support, word-of-mouth advertising. If someone likes a product enough to tell you about it, it might be worth buying, but advertising dictates culture right now. If things still worked the other way around, it wouldn't be such a bad thing. Have you ever gone in to a store to buy something, realised that they didn't have what you wanted to get, but bought something to avoid it having been a wasted trip? THAT mentality is the problem with advertising and, more importantly, consumerism. It's not just that they tell you what to buy. It's that they convince you that the buying is an end within itself. They create a positive feeling at the moment of checkout. As RAW pointed out, there are no fnords in advertisements. I will point out right now, something even more devious, there are fnords on/in the money itself, making it a psychological release to rid yourself of the money. Don't push the burden of money on someone else. If you don't need it, destroy it. There are plenty of legal, and entertaining ways to do so.
D351

To sum it up: advertising is propaganda, not information.
Hugo

Adbusters / MemeWars advertise with BlackSpot Sneakers, the MemeWars Video clip that I'm supposed to email to all my friends, media kits, and successions of savvy and radical 'un'brandings. Advertising isn't inherently bad; it can be a relevant and interesting cultural and socioeconomic artform. Everything is advertising. Your jeans may be label-free, but they make your butt look nice so you get some attention. Or, perhaps you went the way (whether intentionally or not) purchasing the non-butt-look-nice jeans, advertising your juicy morals and cultural savvy so that you get attention. Either way, you're just looking to score. Such as it is with evolution and what is arguably the most powerful force in all of creation: the need to pass on your jeans [sic].
Smaj

I'm not sure i understand the whole discussion. I know ads are everywhere and are unavoidable and that they can be annoying. But why bother it so much as to stress yourselves? Just ignore the ads and do what u have to do. I'm not sure i'm saying this because i live in a country that has much less advertisings. Anyway, I don't think there is anything we can do to stop ads. So just like i said if we don't like it we should just ignore it.
Moe Hein

I'm having trouble seeing the problem in MTV's new Switch campaign. If anything, I think it's fantastic that MTV is using its popularity to confront millions of young viewers with ways to change their impact on the environment. MTV may care more about making money and improving its image than about saving the environment, but their motives are less important to me than the end effect. And since MTV's fanbase and budget dwarfs that of Adbusters, there's a good chance MTV could have a greater positive impact on the environment through this new campaign. Ironic, isn't it?
Adriana

To the first comment i read by 'steve' at the very top. YOU'RE the idiot.
Samantha

Ads are intellectual garbage. If a company is to have success it should be by word of mouth from satisfied costumers, not because we're brainwashed into thinking that a product is good merely because the manufacturer has the money to tell us over and over, how wonderful their poisons are. Take McD as an example. Where i live they openly admit that they can see it on the bottomline if they don't advertise for a few days in a row. Folks, McD is selling garbage, dressed up as food. By word of mouth alone they would soon die off, or become drastically reduced, and rightfully so.
Daemon

Ads give us answers to different personal conflicts... wanna be pretty? wanna be successful? wanna be special? wanna be the best?? If we can get self-esteem without buying any crap, then advertising won't be as omnipresent as it is. It gives solutions without the necessity of thinking in the problem, if it actually exists. So the question here is if buying self-esteem is so easy, WHY and HOW can we change the way people see themselves and what are we making with our lives, common/public spaces and collective thinking. This is something to think as individuals. Nothing will change if we continue blaming. That's what advertising is for, is a tool for consumption. Let's try to imagine how can be out of the capsule. Why are we arguing about the importance of advertising for business? The question should be why are all this products important to us? If the answer is not other than cause they say so we should rethink it.
Doie

TV is for stupid people. I abolished it years ago. You need to listen to Frank Zappa's "I am the Slime." Yes I still get bombarded with advertising on the internet – but you really have to be smart enough to know better...are you really going to go out a buy a $40,000 SUV cuz you saw a commercial for it? HELL NO – ONLY IF YOU ARE STUPID. Try getting rid of your T.V. Listen to coop radio and instead of buying a 'starbucks coffee' everyday sent them the $.
Sarah R

"As global warming deepens, and a somber, new reality sinks in, people are starting to ask some uncomfortable questions...." NOW you're asking? Have you been in a coma for the last 45 years, or what?? Welcome back, then.
Don Pardo

Hey Steve, learn the difference between here and heir, buddy.
Anne

Steve's description of ads is spot on, and shows why they're such a waste of time. TV ads make people stupid.
drew3000

here's a foolproof way to completely ignore ads for the rest of ur life: get some perspective. think of ads as ugly little conceptual art aimed at preserving our current preoccupations for the amusement and enlightenment of future generations. suddenly, your ad-saturated world becomes a pop-museum, a time capsule. feel better already?
revulu

See, the problem isn't 'advertising', its just the fact that big companies that can best afford the advertising aren't responsible enough with their morals. I'm English, I don't know how it is over there, but over here many adverts have started to embrace the anti-brainwash culture, with adverts saying 'this is what we are, buy us if you want' (Marmite?) and many harmless adverts that are actually quite cool (car ads are enjoyable to watch often, and I feel I can watch them without wanting a car suddenly). It seems that the irresponsible companies mostly fall into the same group – mostly 'beauty' products although, the new Dove ads are getting somewhere. The thing is, the big companies aren't going to go against the grain, and neither it seems are the consumers, so its just a vicious circle spiralling towards everyone's 'ideal world', which would result in chaos. It's been said all our lives, but rules exist for a reason, and if we carry on into this 'please yourself, not others' or 'just overdo it' world, then everyone will become isolated from each other and hatred will be the norm. (Sorry if this is inconsistent. The message box IS quite small.) But basically ads are like anything, just a topol that can be used well or just abused.
Jolly Bob

TV – haha, what a perfect psychotronic weapon...Hey, don't you worry though guys. I would rather carefully consider the thoughts in our heads...Global Warming. Mankind still shamefully describe ourselves as 'Homo Sapiens'. Those of us, who are not ready to become 'Homo Moralis' shall stop and think and hopefully feel....The irreversible damage mankind causes to Mother Earth, and the whole Universe, with our individual negative thoughts is far more serious than some carbon footprint, energy saving etc. etc.! Left spin torsional waves generated by each and every one of us mess up the whole place, so, let's think positive and love more often ; P.S. Little story: Russian professor (doctor in science) send his cutting edge work to guru scientists from the Russian Academy of Sciences. They replied 'dear colleague, your work is accurate, provable, applicable, true, logical, progressive, it is superb..; however, we fail to understand it!!!!!!!!!!!!!'
Momo

I've read Culture Jam, and there's some good stuff on this site. But what I haven't seen is a feasable alternative to this messy system we have today.
Ant

We can only do so much to fight back in a culture-wide sense as long as big bucks own the gov't. The best thing you can do is go as ad-free as possible in your life and get others to do it. Between not watching TV, listening to college radio and using No Script, I see/hear few ads. My life is better since then. I got my parents to try it. They're not going back, and that's a lot considering they're die-hard capitalists. Instead of talking about it, put your money where your mouth is and try it. I'm glad I did.
No One Will know

Sarah R.... Just watched Zappa on YouTube. The man was a genius. A creative wizard of the highest magnatude. Thanks for the link. Also, his son has taken his dad's creative genius work to the next level...so we do not forget the legacy he left us.
cheyanne

This article is incredibly biased and completely exaggerates the negative effects of advertising. I am not one who supports its persistent and manipulative nature, but I do believe however that advertising should not be the scapegoat for the stress in our lives. Ads have helped us reduce our anxiety in many ways because they give us a description of what they offer and show us our choices. There is no longer any need to go out and search manually because the appropriate choice can be found through the advertisements of what is available. I do agree, however, that advertising has switched to a darker side over the past years. What has once been explanatory has become somewhat cynical and violent. Advertisers are bringing each others products down, or using luring ideas such as sex or violence to persuade the minds of the population, especially those of young people. I agree with Carissa that it is a little juvenile to put the complete blame on ads, as it is our brains that choose to be lured by the ads and our hands that buy the products. It is, in fact, a matter of will power. Like advertisers have the right to stuff whatever they want into our faces, we have the right to ignore them. If they are indeed the ones who are polluting our minds, then we are the ones who should take action to stop this.
halda

It seems that things are getting a bit out of hand here. Is advertising really that bad that we have to have an entire campaign out against it? I mean sure there's this statistic about 3000 ads per average person per day but does that really apply to anyone of us? I mean, how hard is it to simply switch off the television? Television acts as a monopoly for the general news and corporate media. For us, it is an entertainer in the form of a lifeless object. The TV does not work for us per say but we work for the TV because we expect it to entertain us without us doing anything. So why are we complaining? I personally don't watch TV because I find it completely offensive in every way. The levels of violence and inappropriateness found on just about any channel these days is just getting higher and higher by the year. It is a source that breeds inactivity and reduces creativity. But the point is, the television comes out to us and not us to the television. Oh sure there's viewer rates of various channels and sometimes the networks lose money or sleep over loss of viewers but for the MOST part, we remain captive to whatever is coming out of the screen. So why are we complaining about this adding stress to our already daily lives? Let's get one thing straight here okay? There are young men over in Iraq and Afghanistan fighting for our freedoms at this very moment and they are dealing with stress on a much higher level than simple advertisements on a TV Screen or a department store billboard. More stress any one of us could possibly take and much less live with. So while were all here complaining about 3000 images in our nice comfortable air conditioned homes, they're over there and their dealing with it and some of them are dying for it. Are they complaining? Are they? The answer is no. So I suggest that y'all deal with this so called stress.
Burmanrawcadvc

It's an interesting article but it doesn't have facts. This whole article would have been more persuasive if there was a statistics of survey of people. Without data, it's just an opinion not a fact, which the advertising companies won't really pay attention to. Besides, advertisements are quite fine. I used to have salesmen coming to my apartment who have the product right in front of their faces. Unlike advertisements, these guys are hard to chase away.
Jae Hee Brain Damage

This article isnt FAKE. Yes its true that ads are in the way. They are annoying. Why are they there? But I wont always disagree with the fact that ads are taking over TV channels. They are paying for us! It's FREE! That's one good thing though. I do see ads as a mental pollution so I guess I agree as it gets my brothers singing these stupid ads going on the TV which makes me get on my nerves. But I don't see how it damages our health. I'm now living in Myanmar, Yangon. Here there are rarely ads from around the world. It's basically all Myanmar ads, lame ads. After staying here for my 2nd year, I am starting to get ad sickness. I'm missing the ads. Ads are addictive. It screws up your mind. It is annoying as well as damaging your brain. So overall, I agree with what it says in this article.
JAPANEISSEI

Whoever wrote this site, I totally agree with him, and I love him. He's right, ads damages our brain. We know what to do and what not to do. The ads don't have to tell us. If we have money, it's our choice to buy the product or not to buy it, and not letting the ads tell us what to buy. Since I'm a student, I think all the students should turn off their television and concentrate on studying. Television contains nonsense ads, so why do we watch it? We are old enough to know what's right and what's wrong. In the West, they spent so much money on ads, they should donate those money to the poor. We already have so many ads, so why do the companies keep spending money on ads? I just don't get it. They think too much of themselves, they just want more money when they have enough money already, they should think about others too. What's the point of spending a lot of money on ads when there are poor people? They won't have enough money do buy the product anyway. Since I live in Burma, there are many poverty here. My idea is, those money should donate money to poor or at least help them.
Unnop

Even though people are putting the blame on ads for corrupting our minds, I believe that it is our choice to either purchase or not. As producers it is their job to sell the product and as consumers it is our job to choose smartly and decide what we really NEED instead of what we really WANT. We live in a culture where people just keep wanting more and more and these advertisements are just appealing to our insatiable desires. So, advertisements cannot be the sole blame for our economic judgements and stress even if they do manipulate us in a way so that we buy their products. It is our choice to stand against them and just say no. If advertising didn't have any effect and there was no increase in sales after advertising an item, producers would have stopped it long time ago. It is in our own ability to stop advertising but we choose to continue this tradition by going out of the house to buy the next item being advertised on TV.
WYW

Yeah, I recently moved to Myanmar from New Jersey. Advertising isn't only affecting people in the states, but it's also over here like, everywhere. This country isn't as advanced as the states, but it still has so much advertising for products its crazy. All over on the streets there are posters and large billboards. Sometimes they have a huge block of like 20 of the same posters. I think it is pretty crazy what advertising is doing. Everywhere I look there are advertisements. Sometimes I want to buy something just because of what the advertisement said about the product. But at the same time, I don't think advertising is crazy bad. Yeah, sometimes they can send negative images to some people. But me personally, I don't feel attacked by all the advertising. I just choose to ignore it if I want to. It really isn't that hard to just not care about what the advertisement is saying. We kind of need advertising. What other ways are there for companies to try to sell their products. How are they going to try to compete with rival brands? They definitely need advertising. Thank you.
Christine

Hi, I am from South Korea, and now I am living in Yangon, Myanmar. I came here 4 years ago, and I see advertisements everyday here, especially when I am on the way to school. On a huge billboard with big letters with interesting fonts, trying to convince people, I would not mind if there are only few of billboards on the way to school. However there are at least 15-20 billboards, whenever my car stops at intersection I see all these different advertisements for different products, and that gives me headache sometimes. However on the other hand have you ever thought about a world without advertisement? As u said, Sao Paolo: A City Without Ads, then what about the people there, who work in advertisement agencies? Advertisement is a job for them and they earn money by advertising their products. I believe advertisement is also a part of creativity, and pop culture. It is also obvious that without advertisement companies can not sell their products. So please keep that in mind and think over again. Thank you.
J.K

I think it is not really the ads that damage our brains, but instead movies and dramas, which make people addicted to, are more serious problems that we encounter. We turn on the TV to watch dramas and movies, not to watch ads. Besides, I think most of ads don't stay in our brains that long, except some ads that really stand out. As the article mentions, let's say we encounter 3,000 ads per day, do we remember all though ads that we saw yesterday? However, the scenes that are provocative such as sexual and violent scenes will stay in our brain for weeks. Moreover, if one doesn't want to even see thousands of ads, simply he or she can free oneself by not being obsessed about movies and dramas: just turn off the TV.
Jenny Brain Damage

Advertising by itself is not brain damaging, although recently we can see a lot of ads that encourage us to buy something or do something using a certain product, its really ourselves that should be blamed. If we didn't respond to the ads then none of them will become successful and that is really the only way to stop the spread of advertisements. Advertisements are everywhere I am living in Myanmar and I come from Saudi Arabia, both of these countries have incredible amount of ads. I think advertising is becoming the language of the world, each product of a certain culture needs ads to make it sound special and unique. Advertising is becoming one big source of entertainment, its everywhere TVs, streets, schools, companies and anywhere that you can possibly think of, even public toilets have some ads on them. Advertising is the number 1 step to achieve success in sales for a product without it that product fails its like building a roof with four corners if one corner is missing the whole thing fails.
Eman Brain Damage

I am a United States Citizen currently living in the country of Myanmar and when I get back home to the United States I want to see the commercials because they are interesting and something you do not experience in Myanmar. I disagree I do not think advertising is wrong. Advertising promotes business thus helping the economy. If a business loses money they will have to fire some of their employees. I am pretty sure that a persons mental health will be negatively affected by losing their job and living on the street. Advertising is the only way a company can sell its product.
Joseph

To reduce the number of ads with all the hype, clutter, sex and violence that might be invading peoples lives and causing stress might just be something thats impossible. Which multimillion industry is going to stop advertising their products just because some people find the thousands of ads they encounter each day nauseating? If there's a company can come up with a brilliant advertisement that can make people buy their products, then people will buy their products, great. That's just the way it's going to be. Anyways, advertising is not always a negative thing, as we can see from the ads used by MTV to motivate their world wide audience and increase awareness of our planet's conditions.
ada

It's not about advertising in general, but having products shoved down our throats. We don't just see these ads on TV and on billboards, but on T-shirts, stadium chairs, shoes, purses, hats, etc. We ourselves have become the advertisements. We pay the companies extra money to show off their product and guess what? They get money in their pocket AND free advertisement. Shouldn't they be paying US to show off their product? All the ads that we see are almost subliminal to us now because we see them so much, and that's a scary thought. We need to get out of this cooling marketing and start limiting ads in public spaces and think about what we buy and who it is benefiting.
KTHarHar

Advertisement is everywhere, indeed. I'm currently living in Myanmar, and, not just U.S, but even in a Third World Country the advertisements are booming and flowing on the street, home, and etc. It seems too abundant nowadays. It gives enjoyment and all, but once in awhile you just want to rest your eyes, EXCEPT when youre asleep. I highly disagree with the phrase INVASION of privacy though. Advertisement had been part of human races life ever since people could communicate with each other. Thousands of years ago, housewives couldve said the fruit shop nearby my house is great, thats an advertisement. It had been our solutions and helps at least once in our life time as the ads said. Wed cracked up at least one of the advertisement on TV. If you want to blame the advertisement then I think the blogger should blame the TV and all the media first. Imagine a world without advertisement. Just imagine you didn't know Got Milk? imagine you didnt know Yo quiero Taco Bell. Wouldn't life be too plain and ordinary?
Sayoh

MTVswitch.org NOT .com. Please fix, I couldn't find it.
Linda Artemchuk

[Pointlessly abusive comment deleted. Please feel free to re-post in a manner that contributes to the discussion. — Moderator]
Kaylee

can't we just stay local?
valerie

I am an Indian national and have recently moved to Myanmar. I think this whole hullabaloo about advertising being brain damage and affecting the youth is just a waste of time. Advertising is a part of our lives. When jobseekers go to different companies and hand in their C.V., isn't that in a sense advertising? Only that it is a person trying to sell himself/herself. Companies need to sell their product and advertising is the only way to do that. I think we need to learn how to choose the best products for ourselves. People must take responsibility for themselves and be ready to face the consequences of their choices instead of blaming it on others.
Amala

Valerie: Let's just stay local? Really, now. Let's just get real. Advertising is a global issue, not just an American one. I find it refreshing to hear the voices of so many nationalities represented in this conversation. How local is local? Your home town? Your state? Your nation? Your continent? It is this very attitude of staying local that perpetuates the Ugly American stereotype that we must work so hard to change. Only by listening to others, especially those who don't live on the same continent as us, that we can truly break down the barriers that divide us. Plus, this open form of dialogue that welcomes diverse voices is the beauty of the blogosphere.
Kat

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