A vacationer's beach view recently took a dystopian turn — and the internet is not having it.
A Reddit user sparked heated reactions after sharing a video of a floating digital billboard cruising just offshore, flashing ads across what should have been an uninterrupted ocean horizon. The post in Reddit's r/cyberpunk community was titled "Dystopia, Now with Ad Breaks: Offshore Billboards Invade the Horizon."
The clip, filmed from inside a beachfront building with what should be a peaceful ocean view, showed a massive barge-mounted screen gliding along the coastline, cycling through flashing promotions.
The poster wrote, "Corporate dystopia sails to new depths with offshore billboards, because nothing says 'the future' like inescapable ads on the horizon."
(Click here if the embedded video won't play.)
The post is tapping into growing pushback against hyper-commercialization — especially in places meant for rest and connection with nature.
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As one commenter put it, watching ads float past the beach felt like crossing a line: "Can't even go to the beach without a skip ad you can't skip."
This is yet another example of how advertising has begun creeping into every space of our daily lives. Constant ads not only encourage overconsumption but also actively degrade our experience of public spaces. Beaches, parks, and coastlines are supposed to offer a mental reset — not another sales pitch. And when ads like this take to the ocean, they don't just clutter views; they also risk disturbing marine life and increasing light pollution.
From littering in people's yards to distracting drivers with flashy ads, corporations increasingly monetize public spaces — and there's not much any of us can do about it.
Several commenters questioned how projects like this get approved at all, while others worried about what comes next if offshore billboards become normalized.
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$200 or more 💰 For many in the comments, the consensus was clear: People are tired of being sold to constantly — and they're concerned about the complete disregard for our natural spaces.
"That's just wrong ... Doesn't it like invade the habitats of the fish or something?" one person wrote.
Another added, "I would sink that myself. Absolutely disgusting."
A third summed it up, saying, "Just trying to take a break from all the nonsense in the world only to be forced to watch an ad for something you probably can't afford anyway is reaching new levels of dystopia. We're getting closer to a breaking point."
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