[bitbuilder]

As another anecdote, I've had the same ad targeting for this last week or so. (Which is really unfortunate timing.) At some point I must've clicked on the wrong article while seeing what the "other side" was up to. And now my feed is full of tacticool insurrectionist chic.

The most disconcerting to me was an ad showcasing a "tactical hooded trench coat"[0], with the model holding an AK in the FB ad. I mean, nobody is going hunting, or defending their home, with their tactical hooded trench coat. Seemed pretty squarely targeted at the aspiring insurrectionist crowd.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for letting people buy whatever strange clothes they want. If I have any point here it's that maybe FB doesn't get to claim the moral high ground when they're pushing ads using AKs as props, targeted at the crowd that stormed the capital (also, they need to fix their algorithm if they're pushing them to me).

[0]https://imgur.com/gallery/bxcK7zb

[throwaway0a5e]

If Google Images is any indication a "tactical hooded trench coat" seems like exactly the kind of thing you see the HN demographic wearing while walking to work on a rainy day.

TBH I was expecting to see actual trench coats but they all seem like normal tight-ish fitting jackets in various grays, greens, browns and camo.

[bitbuilder]

I can't find it anywhere anymore, even on their site. They must have realized they weren't reading the room well with the ad and modeling.

But I did screenshot it previously: https://imgur.com/gallery/bxcK7zb

If that's the look of the HN demographic, I'm even more out of touch than I thought I was.

[kipchak]

That looks to be fan art from the video game/book Stalker/roadside picnic (specifically a bandit) used for advertising whatever you'd actually get in the mail. If you reverse image search it a couple different variations of the image will pop up, a lot of which are less than reputable looking stores.[2][3]

[1]https://danielkquemist.artstation.com/projects/lVx8Ne?album_...

[2]https://www.nikiluwa.com/products/mens-tactical-hooded-jacke...

[3]https://www.blaroken.com/products/mens-tactical-hooded-jacke...

[throwaway0a5e]

Now that's much more like what I expected to see when you said "hooded tactical trench coat"

I was seeing stuff like this which albeit somewhat tacky doesn't exactly scream IRA like that does.

https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1nW0maN_rK1RkHFqDq6yJAFXaa/Fre...

https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB19LG5p3MPMeJjy1Xdq6ysrXXaY/Tac...

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/oqoAAOSwGj9dpoA7/s-l300.jpg

https://image.dhgate.com/0x0s/f2-albu-g6-M01-FD-51-rBVaR1rw2...

[Aperocky]

Their algorithm is just fine, you never get 100% accuracy in ML anyways.

People put those ads there and maintained them there for a reason, and that reason is those ads are working.