Ban all marketing. Simple as that. That's your answer. But let's delve a little deeper.

It's a bit inspired by my previous Seychelles post, where ads don't really exist beyond banners on top of the stores.

What?

What? Why? I thought it's all about electric cars and pubtrans and reusable bags and not using plastic straws-

Well, these are half measures to ease the population into believing they're doing well. Better than nothing, but they do not touch the root cause.

Oh yeah, the root cause is India and China! Yeah they produce the most pollution, but you're buying their shit. Why? Because it's cheaper than something made in a normal country. Economics. You can throw an argument that it's still richer nations polluting, just elsewhere. Whatever, it really doesn't matter. However, it is closer to the root cause.

You're sold shit you don't need.

Note that I am not saying that you are buying shit you don't need. You personally, my dear reader, have very little responsibility, surprisingly.

Look around your environment; how many knick-knacks, tech with capabilities way over your needs, or single-use gadgets you have? Is that really your fault, that you were absolutely convinced you need it all?

Absolutely despise the so-called compromise. Just block the windows completely.

The real world is hostile. Billboards, banners, then screens, trucks with screens, megaphones. Open up a newspaper, ads all around (or propaganda, you're losing either way). You look up in the metro, ads. See a bus? The whole thing is a riding advertisement, only with tiny holes for the passengers to get a sliver of daylight. TV and radio got commercials since pretty much forever.

Did you know the HK Tramways company survives mostly on ad revenue? They could make the rides free and lose almost nothing.

Don't get me started on adblockless internet. Even then, video creators will slip in sponsored bits. Or you get on an online shop to buy a single thing you may actually need, and then you get suggestions for something else you're likely to purchase.

It doesn't even have to be advertised - supermarket layout is designed to make you walk through aisles of less important products before getting to the staples.

People study marketing for years and dedicate their career to it; an art of convincing you to give them money for perceived value. You are absolutely bombarded, from all angles, without a break. And just like IRA, you have to resist (be lucky) all the time, while they have to succeed just once.

How can you resist? Or you may think...

Are you immune to marketing?

I thought I'm immune to marketing. I would never buy real Coca-Cola! That iPod? More like iPoop. Pfft. I'll just get a Creative MuVo V100, who needs that overpriced garbage?

Turns out I was just poor.

If you think an ad is doing nothing for you, it's probably because you're not the target audience.

Everyone agrees that TV commercials are annoying, ads are too loud, some are controversial for whatever reason. And yet, they still work. Even if you don't go out to purchase the product immediately.

They work by imprinting the brand image into your brain, even if you don't like it, so if you look for something within the category of the product you want, you'll look for it. Maybe it will be within your budget.

I will not think about this airline again. Probably.

If just stating the capabilities of the product isn't enough, they will lie. If that isn't enough, they will use multiple techniques based on your emotions - fear, lust, anger, or projected happiness. Nothing is off-limits.

You are not the only victim.

Ever heard of unaliving? Kermitting sewerslide? Unhoused? All these terms are known to be alternatives for advertisement-unfriendly phrases. Don't you think there was far more casual swearing on the Internet before? Content (ew) creators who make their money through advertising will adjust their productions accordingly to maximize profit. Which means changing their creative vision to satisfy the capitalist censor, advertiser.

Movies and games are tamed down to match lower age ratings, so they can be displayed in stores or advertised. Payment processors can deny you coverage if you do something immoral according to them. There's a reason why you will see completely different ads on a porn site. It's all built by association.

My point here is that creativity is throttled down because of it. Even worse, future creators are being inspired by current most popular creators who dance to the melody of advertisers', imitating them like children do. Every wave will be more and more tame, unless you can stand on your own legs and deny the pleasure of driving your creative vision in places you don't want.

The solution?

Very simple. Ban all marketing. Any useless shit that's not advertised will not sell, and it will not be produced. Pollution from factories and transport will cease. Marketing people can move onto more productive careers, such as mining coal.

Is it even feasible?

Absolutely not. Economy would collapse. A company that ignores the ban will succeed more than those who don't. A country that doesn't ban it, will gather more resources than others and conquer them.

What can you do, right here, right now?

First of all, do not panic. At the very least, do not fault yourself for failing and buying something you don't need.

Reduce your exposure to advertising. It's easier to control that in the online world, with the devices that you own (still).

Browse with uBlock as a base. SponsorBlock for watching YouTube. On your phone use Firefox with uBlock again, although it's better not to use your phone at all if you don't need it. Don't carry it with you if you don't have to, it's just full of distractions.

Any app that is not a communicator should have its notifications disabled, same with background internet access. That's doable on stock Android (still). Do not let them show you anything you don't need.

Movies? Skip Netflix, set up Jellyfin, and your favorite BitTorrent client for all the Linux ISOs.

Free stuff? The saying goes, if something is free, you are the product. That holds true with the exception of FOSS. Either the revenue comes from advertisements, or your data is sold to advertisers. Keep that in mind. In the best case you're giving up your own agency to spend the time on the free stuff, without gaining anything towards your own goals.

In real life? Well that's hard. That's gonna require more mental fortitude. I'm not suggesting vandalism, that's stupid. The best thing is you can deconstruct the ad - consider its goals, and techniques used. Or something that's trying to be subtle. Try to pinpoint which emotion it's appealing to, or what aspects are exaggerated. That alone should cut the appeal.

"HK core" is just advertisement garbage plastered everywhere.

And when it comes to actually spending your money - or time - consider it twice. Not just "do I need it", but "why" and "what are the alternatives".

We have to live with that ugly, cluttered world unfortunately. Best we can do is deal with it.