Lately it seems like there are Netflix pop-under ads for every website that I go to. What bothers me about all the Netflix ads is that “I’M ALREADY A NETFLIX CUSTOMER!”. If anything, seeing the ads all the time, especially as pop-unders make me want to cancel Netflix and get on with Blockbuster. I tried Blockbuster (and I didn’t cancel Netflix . . . I wanted to give Blockbuster a chance) and it sucked (that was when it first started . . . I wonder how bad it is now?) but at least they’re not shoving it down my throat. But my loyalty means nothing to Netflix.
Anyway, I think something that would be cool would be a way to tell advertisers that you already own what they’re trying to sell and they don’t have to try anymore so they can leave you alone. Of course, they’d use that information for evil and end up trying to sell you something else but still, it seems like I should be rewarded for finally giving in.
For example, Capital One sent me so many offers for credit cards that finally one day I decided to accept the offer simply to stop the junk mail (plus the credit card had the painting “Starry Night” by Van Gogh which is one of the few paintings I recognize (it was one from Academic Decathlon in 93 or 94) . But then guess what? Now they want me to get the MasterCard as well as the Visa. And I even got the MasterCard and now they want me to get a Business Visa. It never ends.
I say one way to fix a few of America’s problems is to stop advertisers. That would help with the obesity problem as well as the consumer debt problem. Sure, it would hurt McDonald’s and credit card companies but who needs them? Tobacco companies are prohibited from advertising on television. The same limits should apply to any product that preys on the health of people (and being in credit card debt *is* bad for your health).