[kortex]

> Some economists have tried arguing that advertising adds value to products, but I think it only hinders people from making choices based on the product's merit. It's a distortion of the market.

Precisely. Spec sheets, unbiased reviews, ratings systems that vet purchases, those add value. Almost by definition, what we consider advertisement is designed to distort humans from making rational free-market choices. Stretching the analogy: Attention is finite, therefore every ad you consume moves you further from perfect information.

That's a purely pragmatic argument without getting into the whole bit where ads use all sorts of psychological tools to shape behavior.