Is there a lemmy community, for example, where people discuss shopping strategies which minimize the risk of the purchase decision being influenced by Brand Image or Flashy Packaging? Or similar topics. Maybe what product categories have cheapest products that are bad, so you can’t apply an objective criterion while making the purchase decision, and are more vulnerable to advertising. Maybe how shopping background music is evil because it takes up mental capacity. (I’m feeling slightly autistic right now, science at least shows music makes you buy more, the rest is just my guess.) You know, that kind of thing.
Questions I would ask people interested in this (feel free to answer them anyways): Do you think making a list of every company that has ever advertised to you so that you can hold it up to yourself when making a purchase decision and only buy from their competitors, makes sense and would be worth your time? Do you love shopping lists because they make you think of the generic product beforehand, and then let you objectively decide based on price which one to buy? Do you agree with the sentiment that, like an AI in a Robert Miles video / Sci-Fi Movie resisting being turned off, I should want to resist something that will change my opinion or state of mind? Do you get a negative gut reaction whenever you see that people are studying advertising, which means most of their job is making this manipulation more efficient? Would these hetorical questions make good advertising for the hypothetical Advertising Hate Club?
Well start with unlock origin and sponsor block for yt that will clean up most of the obvious ads. On mobile u can use an app patcher to kill most app ads and new pipe for yt. The product placements and payed listings u just have to make a judgement yourself. I try to make purchases based on features. Its as simple as 1 2 3.
- clearly define the problem I have
- define what features I need to solve that problem
- find the product that fills all the necessary and as many of the optional features as possible.
Don’t let brands tell you how to feel or invent problems u need solved. Use brands simply as markers of reputation. And most importantly have zero brand loyalty which often means avoiding lockin ecosystems as much as possible (Foss is your friend in that regard).
*Ublock Origin, an extension for firefox and Ublock origin Lite, an extension for chrome and derivatives
Not trying to be pedantic, people who never heard of it could straight up download the wrong software
*Ubend Oranges
I forget that people use chrome and enjoy googles cock down their throat.
The book Influence by Cialdini not only talks about the levers of influence, but how to minimize their impact.
The fact you are even thinking about all this critically is a great step.
Being aware of advertising and what it does to you individually and what it means socially is more awareness that 90 percent of the population who just passively accept it as a normal part of our world.
Keep asking questions … always keep asking questions … even if you never find the answers … asking questions is always better than just passively accepting the unacceptable things in our world.
The only caution to all that is … always be wary of those who give you the simple answers … especially easy answers to complicated questions. Life is a complicated process and it seldom leads us to easy simple answers.
I repeat “I hate [company] and this is a shit ad” whenever I start hearing the same ad more than twice.
BuyItForLife communities might work, and a lot of topic specific communities have discussions on if a product is worth the hype. Having a separate community for it might not work as well if it doesn’t have the momentum / crowd sourced knowledge
Consumer protection programs are also fun. CBC Marketplace has a BuzzKill segment that somewhat fits with this theme
Do you think making a list of every company that has ever advertised to you so that you can hold it up to yourself when making a purchase decision and only buy from their competitors, makes sense and would be worth your time?
No, but I do have a mental list of companies (mostly local, a handful of contractors and landscapers) that have shitty ass drivers that can’t follow basic road rules and are likely the owners.
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You’re looking for the privacy community, there’s a few spread across different instances.
Privacy@lemmy.world is a good one
Get rid of cable tv if you haven’t already. I’ve been without it for 20 years. First via piracy, then streaming. When I visit family, I can’t believe how intrusive and insulting the ads are because I’m no longer conditioned to them.
You don’t realize how bad it until you go to a sporting event. Every square inch that can be turned into advertising has been, and when you don’t have the commercials taking your attention, you definitely realize you spent $400 to get 1 hour of content stretched to 3 hours with a really awful DJ to fill in where the ads would have gone.
