Proposal: Prohibit All Advertising

Advertising (defined as commercial speech intended to induce others to engage in a commercial transaction) should be forbidden. The government would not prosecute violations but would instead allow anybody to sue violators for punitive damages in civil court. The specifications and prices of products and services could still be listed in yellow-page style compendiums, and products and services could be reviewed by publications such as Consumer Reports.

Justification

1. Aesthetics

Advertising is propaganda which pollutes the mental realm by repeating the mantra

Buy more stuff and you'll be happy!

Many ads are insulting: "We know that you don't care about the safety ratings of this car. We know that you don't care about the price of this car (even though you do like to hear about a cash-back). We know that you don't care about the mileage you get out of this car. We do know that you will be more likely to buy this car if we play some nice music and show you this happy family traveling in our car. You are a stupid fuck, and now go to the dealership."

Most ads consist of lies, half-truths and distortions. These things are not beautiful, and our world is filled with them.

2. Capitalism

Capitalism is built on the principle that the best product should win in a Darwinian manner, where "best" is defined by consumers taking price, features and quality into account.

For this concept of capitalism, advertising is a hindrance: not the best product wins anymore, but the best advertised product wins. Bigger companies are better able to launch successful advertising campaigns, even though their products may not be superior. This distorts the system.

The resources spent on advertising are wasted and don't help Darwinistic capitalism along.

3. Environmentalism

The rich countries are using up too much stuff. Advertising is the motor behind the unsustainable rat race of "work more, produce more, make more money, buy more". Switch off the motor, and more people will realize that there's more to life than this.

4. Homogenizing and paralyzing effect

Suppose you want to advertise a car. Of course you need the picture of a woman. Do you pick a thin one or a fat one? Well you do a survey and find that the majority of men prefer thin ones, so you pick a thin one. All other advertisers do the same. As a result, fat women get the impression that something is wrong with them, men who like fat women are slowly conditioned to like thin ones, and the cultural standard of beauty can never change. (For more on this, see the excellent writeup She's so cute, Exhibit B.)

Legal Considerations

The U.S. Supreme Court has held that local ordinances against begging are constitutional. Just like begging, advertising is annoying commercial speech intended to induce the listener to enrich the speaker. There is no First Amendment protection for such speech.


This writeup is in the public domain.