I personally don’t have a huge problem with advertising but socialists in general and I suppose Marxists in particular make a distinction between productive and unproductive labour. While liberals are quite happy if something is worth paying for it is creating value, otherwise it wouldn’t be bought.

However advertisement aimed at children are really aimed to make children pester parents to do something the child wants but that the parent wasn’t doing (and therefore probably didn’t want to do).

Parents do make bad decisions when it comes to their kids, and many will freely admit to this as well.

I’m not saying anything should be done about it but I think companies should be aware that this isn’t a way to make your company look very good.

I also thought it was interesting to see a company actually trying to create a new market for their product. You often read about capitalism seeking out and creating new markets, and here it was, in monkey form.

With respect to the CO2 advert, although I agree with the premise that “something must be done” about climate change I don’t particularly like the advert. Lets leave the kids out of it. I don’t think we need to convince people to make small changes to their life rah rah rah, we need to price carbon and let the economy find a new equilibrium.

PS Oh and it wasn’t Pinot Noir I ended up drinking that night but Absinthe and lemonade, so those adverts
really aren’t working.

PPS I see sconzey you’re from Southampton University, I graduated from there in 2008 how is Jesters these days?

but dw guise; the scholar-kings of this Progressive Paradise have determined that these things will make you happy, and we will give them to you, because we’re nice like that.

Also: a market anarchist theory of advertising.