Driver captures frustrating scheme contributing to major traffic jam: 'It's rush hour'

For one driver, the already frustrating chore of commuting home during rush hour was made markedly worse by a glaring eyesore on the road ahead of them — a digital billboard on the back of a large truck.

They posted a photo of the eyesore on the subreddit r/mildlyinfuriating, writing, "It's rush hour. There's too many f****** cars on the road already. Now there's a useless truck taking up space just to advertise." As seen in the photo, and as they describe, "it's literally just a box truck with TV screens on all sides."

Several commenters were similarly incensed by the display.

"Digital signboards like this need to be illegal," one person complained. "[I have] a hard enough time driving error-free without some bright blinky box bedazzling my retinas with lies."

While digital advertising screens on the sides of moving vehicles seem like something out of a satire, they're surprisingly common — though not because there's any popular approval of their presence. 

In fact, more and more people are flocking to communities like Reddit specifically to complain about the ubiquitous nature of advertising. Unwanted ads are common on our computer, phone, and TV screens, but they've also been popping up on public water fountains, in gym bathrooms, and even inside fortune cookies.

And though it can feel like an inescapable reality of modern life, this much advertising hasn't always been the norm. The spending on digital advertising has been growing by double-digit rates for the past several years, according to a report from Statista.

Many people point out the cultural and societal dangers of this trend. A purchasing culture that's focused on consuming — and therefore manufacturing — new, cheaply made, excessive items is a culture that generates extreme amounts of waste. But because people keep buying, manufacturers keep producing. 

The average American generates approximately five pounds of trash a day on average, according to the EPA, and staggering amounts of pollution in the form of garbage are flooding our landfills, our rivers, and our oceans.

Instead, we'd all be healthier — and wealthier — by turning away from the allure of the dazzling digital displays and shopping for necessary items only, buying as many of them as possible secondhand. 

Fortunately, the popularity of secondhand marketplaces like Facebook Marketplace and Buy Nothing groups are empowering more people to extract themselves from the toxic advertising-spending cycle.

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