Disturbed passerby shares photo of dystopian discovery after looking up at the sky: 'I've been counting down the days'

If there's one thing that's guaranteed to spoil a view, it's an intrusive advertisement. 

On r/ABoringDystopia, a subreddit that critiques the dull excesses of advanced capitalist societies, one Redditor shared a picture of an unwelcome sight over Austin's night sky: a scannable QR code projected by drones. 

While some noted the technical accomplishment, most of the comments were unsurprisingly hostile, given the audience. One comment summed up the contradictory feelings the sight elicited: "The tech geek in me thinks it's cool but every other part of me is horrified." 

Another was hardly surprised by the development: "Oh Lord, I've been counting down the days until I saw my first sky-ad."

"As if the light pollution wasn't bad enough," another commenter opined, touching on a key point about the environmental impact. Light pollution is a serious problem for urban areas that extends hundreds of miles. Aside from making it more difficult to see the stars, excessive lighting can make it more difficult for people to maintain their circadian rhythm. 

Another aspect of ubiquitous advertising is how it contributes to overconsumption, especially in wealthy nations. Every consumer good requires some combination of resource extraction, transport, and disposal. From 1970 to 2010, natural resource consumption tripled. The consumer habits of the world's richest countries far outweigh the ecological impact of consumption in the global south. 

There are a few options for curbing intrusive advertising. For example, four states have legislation that prohibits billboards. Restricting advertising in public areas actually has broad bipartisan appeal, so there could be scope to expand efforts in other states. On an individual and local level, activities like forming and backing "buy-nothing" groups can go a long way.

If all else fails, one of the Redditors offered a wry comment: "I think it's cool. But if I saw more than one of them I would start pellet gunning them down."

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