[frankquist]

I am at a loss for alternatives, but I am skeptical about advertising. Not in a completely general sense, but what bothers me is that much of it is manipulative. It uses images, sounds and movies in certain progressions to influence me, sometimes in a covert or unconscious way. Now, certainly a lot of other communication efforts are aimed at persuasion, but then, you often have to consciously go and find them. It is easier to filter (I can choose not to visit the opinion pages of website or its comments section). Advertising on the other hand crawls into your life from all directions (billboards, video ads that suddenly start playing, popups, street vendors) and is sometimes impossible to avoid. Often it's slick but shallow. It's like, you enjoy eating good food but instead, everywhere you go, you are being force-fed hamburgers. I do not want an information diet that fills up my working memory, costs me energy, manipulates my emotions and yet leaves me unfulfilled.