The 3 ways advertising is probably the most harmful thing in the western world.<p>1) Distorting economic choices away from genuine preferences. Would we have such an obesity epidemic without Cola?<p>2) Distorting economic incentives away from genuine needs, most people working in advertising are actually generating negative work (they work to make others work against their interests and needs). All those producing advertising sustained products are also working perhaps at right angles to consumers genuine needs. Every billboard that is made, every campaign launched, every shill lying signifies in the final sense a theft...<p>3) Advertising funded businesses, ignoring direct influence via advertising spend (HSBC and the telegraph). The advert based funding model drives a &#x27;buzzfeedization&#x27; where information services work for maximum distraction rather than providing information people want fast. Google wants you to be online more, not so you can get more done but so you can see more adverts. Will they tailor their search results so be slightly worse than ideal to keep you there longer? It would make economic sense to do so.<p>Businesses should be regulated very harshly to force them to compete on price, innovation and service delivery. No capitalist wants to compete in an efficient market, they must be forced.