Thread by @eigenrobot

interesting

ancillary reactions

1. experience in tech has mostly been that everyone is insanely focused on actually selling stuff, probably because we see direct results from online channels

i guess i havent done much "brand" advertising work (vs conversion ad analysis) tho

2. selling consumer goods is noble actually

you earn a living and you give people stories about the stuff their buying that makes them not only get the stuff, but feel better as a person for having bought it

this is huge value add

people are way too down on capitalism

often the best thing you can do for someone is to show them how to tell a better story about themselves

but what am i saying. look at this soulless capitalist. ha ha

ads are an opportunity to remind people of what might matter to them.

my only complaint about ads is that so many are bad

@ryanpbradymedia practically every communication is in a sense manipulation. this is not _necessarily_ malign.

if i tell you that a hostile army is on the way, and my hope is to cause you to flee that army: ive manipulated you, but for a good and honest purpose

@ryanpbradymedia if i pay you a compliment, i am trying to change the way you view yourself for the better; this is usually a kind act, although of course it might be wicked if i am lying or if my objective is to do you harm for my own benefit

@ryanpbradymedia advertising is dicey because it's communication done explicitly for ones own financial benefit.

this demands a high level of integrity but if you can convince someone to buy something that they'd benefit from, and cause them to /feel good/ about doing so, it seems win-win to me

@ryanpbradymedia related :)

anyway, i hope ive . . . sold you on the upside of marketing. and if i havent, some consolation: i did not study ads, and what i did in my early "meaningful" work was unbelievably heinous. so you couldve done much worse.

addendum

i have no opinion about the object level discussion except that the company in question used marketing to make its customers feel BAD, and i expect probably made no one else feel good

i cant get behind that advertising model

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