Amazon faces major backlash after customer uncovers concerning offer on product listing: 'You've got to be kidding me'

A Redditor recently shared a frustrating screenshot of what they found on Amazon to r/Anticonsumption.

The listing for an e-reader included two options: one at full price and another discounted thanks to lockscreen ads. This feature has been baked into Kindle-brand e-readers and tablets for about as long as they've been around, so it is nothing new, but the post sparked quite the reaction, with over 1,000 upvotes and nearly 250 comments.

"I think companies would replace the sky with a screen to display ads on if they could." — Photo Credit: Reddit

Kindle ads can be removed after the fact, but doing so requires paying the difference of the discount or telling Amazon support that the Kindle is for a child and they shouldn't be exposed to inappropriate ads.

Besides being a tacky intrusion, ads are a major force driving unnecessary consumerism. The average return on ad spend for Google Ads, for example, is $2 in revenue for every $1 spent. Manufacturing electronics alone uses up enough energy and resources. Using an e-reader as a platform to get users to buy even more electronics and physical goods only compounds its environmental footprint.

On the other hand, the company, Amazon, would argue that it is selling the device without the ads, and it's merely an option to accept ads to get it even cheaper. Perhaps this is fair from a pure dollars-and-cents point of view, but the fact that this has become a norm is another example of how advertisements (particularly for products) have become so pervasive that they have even made their way into books.

Meanwhile, thrifting, "buy nothing" groups, and repair all offer economical ways to keep useful things in your life without going out and getting something new. These practices also help prevent perfectly usable goods from going to landfills and contributing further pollution.

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The Reddit community was quick to share in the disapproval of using ads as an incentive for buying an e-reader.

"I hate ads. I think putting advertisements on a product you paid for should be illegal. … I think companies would replace the sky with a screen to display ads on if they could," said the top commenter. Incidentally, we're well on our way to doing that.

"Buy a kobo, or another e-reader that isn't Kindle. Boox are just android and can run the Kindle app on them I believe," suggested another.

"You've got to be kidding me," said someone else, clearly exasperated.