But what does it matter what is allowed or not allowed to be advertised if advertising has no effect on the individual and it is all down to personal choice as you claim?
If advertising does have an effect on the individual, and the thing being advertised is addicitive, then the advertising should be restricted.
If advertising has no effect on the individual and it is all personal choice, then there is no need for advertising and it should be restricted.
The downside of the government banning advertising of addictive and harmful things, is a lot less than the downside of allowing these things to be advertised.
And once again, no freedoms of the individual need to be restricted.
I heard about an “experiment”, and I put it in quotes because I’m not sure if it’s real or an urban legend. It was apparently in Switzerland where they got a bunch of kids for lunch, day after day, and had a table laced out with sweets, cakes/chocolates, etc, on the left side, while regular/healthy lunch food on the right. Predictably the kids went for the sweet stuff for the first few lunches, but thereafter moved to the regular food after a few days. It seems like a relevant story for this thread.
yes, my wife and I actually subscribed to it for a few months when life got really busy (pre-covid). kept the recipe cards, some of them have been done a few times since. the food is good, I just disliked the packaging of it all. nearly every ingredient comes in it’s own little plastic pouch, right down to the spices. but overall I’d give it a 4/5. have a free voucher code if you want to try it, they keep sending them to me.
addiction has many forms, ultimately it comes down to the constitution of the individual as to what form it manifests in.
I like to think of it as a personality type. I don’t gamble, because although I’m fairly good at it I’m also very aware of the consequences of getting tied up in it. Have watched too many people destroy their lives on drugs to bother with that garbage. smoked DuMaurier extra light (and Marlboro lights when I could get them) for 15 years on/off until I made the correct decision to quit that filthy habit. I cannot even smell them now, makes me gag.
so I stick to booze and a little bit of of the devil’s lettuce that I grow myself in my garden. But my family lineage is riddled with addiction which hit very close to home for decades…it’s a spectre that never leaves.
My neighbor just died yesterday morning in his mid 50’s. I got the messages mid-game. years of excessive beer consumption compromised his internal organs. liver and kidney failure, sounds like something went wrong at the hospital. Was a big strapping fellow. 190cm, 100kg and strong. I’m still sitting here in my living room working, completely in shock that he was up and walking around last month and gone today.
Cheers. Hmm on the packaging front. Anyway I booked 3 meals for next week, that will be 6 meals for me (2 portions in each). Got a nice discount too so financially it makes sense.
I’m feeling a bit motivated today after last week’s exercise efforts. So, I’ll hit the sack early tonight as one way to avoid eating and snacking late. I’m on a rest day, still hurting after yesterday’s madness (see weight loss thread) and I’ll run again tomorrow. I do need to work on some resistance training somewhere.
Banning advertising is the pre-cursor to banning the product and its usage. Very much against my view of he world. As others have referenced, prohibition was a very bad idea.
Don’t disagree that prohibition would be a bad idea. I do disagree that banning advertising is a pre-cursor to it. Even with the all the regulations around smoking that have come into place in my lifetime, to the point where there essentially is no advertising, we are nowhere close to prohibition or to a meaningful reduction in people no longer smoking.
You will also have to forgive me for not being bothered if what is best for people on the whole, goes against your own personal view of the world.
What you may or may not consider to be best for people on the whole doesn’t make it true. And I don’t give a fetid dingo’s kidney as it makes no difference to my views.
I never expected that it would, but you keep throwing it in here and there that it ‘goes against your views’ as if that’s a justification for a poorly reasoned argument.
Maybe its less Orwellian than you think.
Instead if the authority knowing or thinking what’s good for you it is more about knowing what’s bad for you?
People in their wisdom or lack of it are easily seduced. Modern advertising hits its demographic target with skill and precision. Lotto winners live in council houses and make everyone happier. Ordinary guys are racing experts during Cheltenham, and if you don’t have money there are loads of companies offering cheap loans and credit.
Young boys in Dublin are seduced by Canada Goose jackets and top class trainers by drug barons using them to peddle their wares.
The mundane can be better, the lives we lead enhanced and the power of advertising makes it all better and shiny.
And addiction forming.
Gambling is a bit of fun, so is a few pints and the odd smoke.
But if it goes beyond control families start to suffer. I know a family left without a father who took his own life due to serious gambling debts. He thought he could gamble his way out of debt.
Its questionable how much free wlll or control we actually have. I might not start, but if I do…have I the power to stop?
Another addiction not mentioned at the moment is porn. Young lads who had a sneaky look at top shelf magazines now have 24 hr access to all manner of stuff on their phones.
And their image of women is damaged because of it.
Absolutely. People should be allowed to make their own decisions, and that’s why prohibition is never a good idea.
However, today’s big scale advertisement isn’t only an information on a product. We all know what Coke is, Heineken, a big mac or whatever, yet we are continually bombarded by advertisements for these products. Why? The big companies use advertisement as a weapon. They know that they will bring people to consume their products if they advertise them enough.
Big scale advertisement is mass manipulation, many studies have been able to show that: bombard people with enough advertisements, and many of them will consume your product. Quality doesn’t play a role, it’s all about the place these products take in our heads, and thanks to big-scale advertisement, that place gets bigger and bigger.
I find it very funny that studies were required to confirm that massive advertising campaigns affect people. Also confirms that i’m in the wrong business, I should be selling sand to Egyptians.
