[benofsky]

How is advertising a net-negative to society? Advertising funds many things which are too expensive to produce by themselves: newspapers, tv, movies, etc. You may not _like_ it but it makes possible many things which would otherwise be infeasible.

[joshklein]

Some would argue those things you mention are themselves net-negatives. We're getting into the realm of philosophy, and I don't want to foist mine upon you. But to explain my comment: some would argue that mass market advertising is focused on the creation of desire, and that happiness is achieved through minimizing your desires. Or more literally, advertising is about making you unhappy with what you already have so you buy stuff.

[ddlatham]

If the advertise revenue stream did not exist, do you think we would still have newspapers, tv, movies, etc?