[ff317]

Arguably, adults are worth protecting as well. A lot of marketing and even design intent for adult products is also extremely misleading and intentionally designed to prey on our collective fallibility. In that sense, it's at the very least unethical, and maybe should be illegal. We have some laws about truth-in-advertising, but they're very weak in a lot of scenarios.

[quacked]

I agree with you. I believe that one of the greatest problems American society faces is a corruption of public life on the terms of advertisers and propagandists, who are often the same people. However, I don't have a great solution for imposing a censorship regime on content generation and consumption, and so it is a little more helpful to simply choose an age at which to draw the line where the law treats you as capable of making your own decisions and protecting yourself from mass media.

[Arson9416]

What are you thinking about specifically? Some examples might help others see your perspective better.

[mandmandam]

Wow, really? Name anything heavily advertised on corporate media.

Insurance, defense contractors, pharmaceuticals, home security systems, cars, body spray, McDonalds, Coke, politicians; it's all fear, status, greed. It's explicitly taking advantage of our vulnerabilities with every combination of precision and blunt force, to sell pointless, stupid, toxic shit. Put on your They Live sunglasses. The planet is burning.

Let's advertise carrots on TV. Let's advertise public transport, and public healthcare. Let's advertise free fucking college.