Just when you think you are free from advertisements, they pop up in the least expected places.
In this Reddit post on the r/a******design subreddit, a user shared a photo of their fortune cookie fortune. Only, instead of predicting the future or providing an insightful proverb, the "fortune" was an advertisement for ZipRecruiter.
In a world already filled to the brim with advertisements, it seems that companies will do whatever is necessary to promote the consumption of their products. Whether it is ads in our cookies, floating in the ocean at beaches, or flashing in front of our eyes while on the road, we are constantly being pushed to consume.
Considering this, could advertising ever be beneficial for the environment?
An organization called Purpose Disruptors strives to use advertising for the benefit of the planet. "Our mission is to catalyse the advertising industry's climate transition," its website reads, and it is aiming to make the advertisement industry push for good rather than overconsumption.
One way that Purpose Disruptors is trying to change the advertising landscape is by actually calculating the carbon pollution associated with purchases influenced by an advertisement, calling them "advertised emissions." By tracing and calculating the indirect emissions caused by advertisements, advertising agencies can be held accountable for their role in overconsumption. Purpose Disruptors calculated that the advertisement industry was responsible for 208 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2022.
Commenters on the post shared their anger and frustration with what feels like a constant bombardment of ads trying to get people to buy or use products.
"Why fortune cookies man? Is it even effective marketing? Who the hell is gonna see an ad in a fortune cookie and feel anything other than disdain?" one user asked.
"Another company sucks the fun out of something else," someone else commented.
A third user joked, "Well that's unfortunate."
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