A Redditor went to r/SantaMonica to express their disdain for a trending form of advertising in the West Coast town.
The photo shows a truck designed for digital mobile advertising promoting ad space.
"While I'm generally laissez-faire and against regulation … I find it obnoxious, but maybe I'm the only one?" the original poster wrote.
"I find all advertising obnoxious," a commenter agreed.
Advertising wants one thing and one thing only — your money. Ads are designed to distract you and draw you in so you'll buy, spend, sign up, or invest. From public restrooms to the food we eat, and now the roads we drive on, their tactics are relentless.
It's all part of the vicious cycle of consumerism, which encourages mass production — a massive culprit of our overheating planet. From dirty energy practices to wasteful packaging and money-driven motivations that pay no mind to the world around us, many of these companies don't have our best interests at heart.
The more we purchase and consume, the more pollution and waste we create. Our landfills are already overflowing, releasing toxic gases into the air, which is why being mindful about what we purchase and who we purchase it from is important.
Instead of contributing to the demand for more, look into secondhand options like thrifting, whether it's for clothes, furniture, or luxury brand items. Goodwill even has an online platform now, so you can shop from the comfort of your home.
There are also options to upcycle, rehab, and mend what you already have. ThredUp, a popular resale platform founded in 2009, reported in 2022 that they've helped save customers $5.3 billion so far while conserving 7 billion gallons of water. To put that into perspective, that's the equivalent of 10,738 Olympic-sized swimming pools of water.
This is proof that small changes are a big deal.
The mobile advertisement sparked mutual disappointment.
"They specifically target congested areas," said a Los Angeles resident. "The slower the traffic the more valuable the advertising."
"It should be banned, and the economics should be changed up where it's not profitable to drive around for no reason," one Redditor commented.
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