Advertising Apathy • Urban Philosophers

The pervasiveness of advertising in capitalist societies is commonplace to the point of mere regularity. Instead, it is a great surprise when advertising is not to be found, for example, only “Four [US] states prohibit all billboards: Maine, Vermont, Alaska, and Hawaii” (Billboard Fact Sheet).

This is not to say that those in capitalist societies enjoy advertising, quite the opposite. Regarding billboards again, “A 2007 poll of Texas voters by Baselice & Associates found that 86% thought there were too many or enough billboards already in the state” and “In 2011 the M.J. Ross Group polled voters in Reno, Nevada and found that 80% said the city already had enough or too many billboards” (Billboard Fact Sheet).

It is no tremendous surprise that people, even in capitalist societies, prefer a reality without advertising, and if they can rid themselves of advertising, they would not return to a world full of “A 2011 poll by the Portland Press Herald showed that 94% of Mainers opposed a plan to allow billboards back into the state” (Billboard Fact Sheet).

This advertising dislike does not just pertain to billboards; people will pay a premium to avoid advertisements on apps that would be free if the user could tolerate the advertisements. Further evidence of advertising intolerance is found through the usage of web adblockers, “Globally, 31.5% of internet users use ad blockers at least sometimes when online as of Q1 2024, GWI data shows” (Backlinko Team).

Yet, many individuals who hold disdain for product propaganda will still support the very system that pushes advertising on them: capitalism. Even if one can dodge advertising, be it through legislation, paying premiums, or ad blockers, advertising is seen as a feature, not a bug, of the world. Capitalists, even some who disdain advertising, will claim to point to what they perceive as the necessity of advertising.

Because, despite how people dislike advertising, if bombarded with enough advertising, they will acquire advertisement apathy. The spreading of apathy is one manner in which capitalism stupefies the masses. Only once advertising apathy creeps in can one become prone to stupidest version of capitalism.

Advertising is a breeding ground for consumers; the capitalist consumer is created at the point of advertising. The advertiser must turn the consumer into a desiring consumptive ouroboros: “The system of consumerism separates desire from real needs, consumers engage in fantasies for ‘sublime objects’ that can never be fully satisfied” (Schmitt).

“The system of consumerism separates desire from real needs, consumers engage in fantasies for ‘sublime objects’ that can never be fully satisfied”
Bernd Schmitt

Apathy can easily slip into desire because one wishes to escape their apathetic state, and most often will take the easiest escape route. In capitalist societies, the easiest escape route out of apathy avenue is consumerism, so “It isn’t the stupidity that causes commercialism, but rather commercialism that causes stupidity” (Heath).

We can have healthy markets without hyper commercialization, arguably healtheir markets: as the health of a market is not just centered on raw economic flow but also on social well being.

With this ought we not to at least be seeking healthier forms of capitalism? As we are in some sense apathetic toward advertising, why do hold this attitude with capitalism when our whole societies are organized in large part around this economic system.

Apathy in advertising speaks to the nature of much of society’s larger apathy toward captialism. If one seeks to preserve capitalism then a better captialism must be built up or reformed into existence.Below is the same citation content, only reformatted as a list. No wording has been changed.

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