From violations of privacy, to the mainpulation or even maliciousness at its core, I think marketing at it’s current state is poison to society. But I also think it might be a necessary evil. What would be a good alternative implementation of advertising look like? Or do we even need it? If the former, how would advertising look in a non-capitalist society?
I think our surroundings would be much cleaner. We’d have less flyers, billboards, tarps, etc. We would live in a quieter world filled with less distraction.
As much as I hate it however, I agree that it’s a necessary evil, but maybe it could be executed more responsibly. I personally prefer “buy it for life” discussions, or product reviews by experts, or those gradings according to sustainability. So maybe in a non-capitalist society, adverts would be more informative than just, “look at this shiny thing, don’t you want it?”