While the comic combined with the text has a bit of an edgy vibe, I agree with the overall message. Advertising was just decided upon to be an acceptable way to force people to look at whatever. And no, it's not always an option to "just don't look at it if you don't like it". I fucking hate those advertising TVs that get set up all over my city, they grab your attention even more than regular billboards.
They've been putting those blinding boards all over the place where I live, I think they're supposed to dim at night but they're not properly maintained and fuck whoever thought putting super bright moving images right next to roads is safe and should be allowed.
I'll pay for all of the subscriptions required to not see ads when the companies I work for pay me enough money to afford it.
Have you seen the prices on these subscription sites?
Every single website you go to wants $20 a month to not show you ads, and for some all that will do is decrease the number of ads you are shown.
If you cycle through the same 10 to 15 websites then that's $200 to $300 a month just to look at the internet that you're paying $100 a month to look at.
B-but according to lots of people we’re denying the content creators their revenue if we don’t stare at their ads like pathetic little sheep. Won’t somebody think of the advertisers???
Exactly! Whip cracking isn't what anyone could call a transferrable skill! They went to school for years to learn how to use it, it's all they know! If we get rid of slavery, their degrees go to waste!
People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you're not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen and they bully you with it. They are The Advertisers and they are laughing at you.
You, however, are forbidden to touch them. Trademarks, intellectual property rights and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like wherever they like with total impunity.
Fuck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It's yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.
You owe the companies nothing. Less than nothing, you especially don't owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don't even start asking for theirs.
Honestly, this makes me feel good about my habit for peeling off / throwing away those little ad stickers and cards whenever I see them somewhere and people aren't looking.
Yes, if you like living with people. Why is it OK for cities to be plastered with ads? It's been shown they are not necessary.
And it's not like TV or Youtube where ads are subsidising my experience. Outdoor ads are very rarely subsidising the thing you are experiencing. Sure, maybe ads on buses and bus stops help lower bus costs. But most ads are on buildings and billboards where the city doesn't benefit from them. And you can't opt out from riding a bus plastered with ads that cover even the windows making you even more depressed. There's no bus premium subscription.
I can see the headlines now.
“This just in! Global advertising halted because of some shitty vandalism! World saved from crushing depressive corporatocracy!”
If you're "tired of fighting" it still costs you little to nothing to support those fighting, or at least not speak condescendingly about the fight they are fighting. Something about your comment tells me you weren't fighting much in the first place.