The shipping industry is contributing to rising global temperatures even when it reduces its polluting gases, so another boat in the water is not exactly what planet Earth needs.
Especially when said boat is a floating eyesore of LED advertisements that includes a bulletin for a product called CellShadeZ, which apparently is a real thing.
A Redditor shared a photo of this Miami Beach monstrosity, declaring, "This boat goes back and forth showing ads so you can't even enjoy the ocean view while on the beach."
The pollutants emitted by ships — from particulate matter to nitrogen and sulfur oxide — contribute to ground-level ozone and are harmful to human health.
Barges — similar to the small one pictured in the post — may be more efficient than cargo ships, trucks, or rail when used on rivers, but deploying one to tug ads along a coast doesn't hold the same water.
"People can never seem to understand that it isn't communist indoctrination that makes me hate capitalism, it's observing capitalism firsthand on a constant basis," one commenter wrote.
Another offered a pandemic joke: "Geez, billboards. I appreciate your hard work and I feel sympathy for you since road traffic died down and very few people actually see you anymore, but give it a break already!"
"No billboards?" one user cracked. "How do you know what to buy?"
Another noted they lived in Alaska, one of four states that ban the adverts.
"The f***** part is that it's really not that different from a regular billboard," they wrote. "Billboards aren't allowed in my state, and every time I go to other states billboards really gross me out."
Others compared it to the popular television series Black Mirror, which features episodes of various future dystopias in which technology creates distressing chaos, raising red flags about overconsumption and overcommercialization.
"Black mirror is bleeding into real-life," someone wrote.
Another user responded: "Black Mirror is too interesting and hopeful, real life is bleeding into Black Mirror."
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