Getting people to want and purchase more has adverse effects on both people and the planet
Last week, I looked at one of the underpinnings of our economic system, the financial sector. This week, I turn to another key sector that is often overlooked – the advertising industry. It is a huge industry. Forbes recently reported that Magna, a major media and communications company, expects the global ad spend in 2024 “to increase by 7.2 per cent, totalling $914 billion,” with more than two-thirds of that spent on digital media.
Almost 2,500 years ago, the Greek philosopher Epicurus wrote: “Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not,” a sentiment echoed by the 19th-century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche: “Happiness is continuing to desire what you already possess.” Or as American singer and actor RuPaul put it, very simply: “Happiness is wanting what you already have.”
A 2020 article in the Harvard Business Review highlighted the work of a European research team that looked at the relationship between advertising and the happiness of nations. The researchers looked at roughly one million people surveyed over 30 years across 27 European nations. They found “that increases in national advertising expenditure are followed by significant declines in levels of life satisfaction.
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