Advertising used to be a gamble. 100 years ago, John Wanamaker, who is now considered the pioneer of the industry said “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” This remained more or less true well into the modern era, even up to television adverts. There was some data on what worked and didn't, but it was really hard to actually measure the metrics.

Then came the digital era. Now advertisers know where and for how long your mouse lingers on what portion of their ad. They know if you scroll back up for a second look. They know how long you look, what you've seen before, what's worked before, and they have such a detailed profile of you that now with AI they are serving you personally tailored adverts.

It's a bad thing for adults, but it is an absolute nightmare for children.

This is an article with interviews from Sephora employees. The way they report kids are behaving now is insane. It just breaks my heart man

removepaywall.com/search?url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/sep/17/sephora-workers-child-skin-care

"In the first half of last year, a third of “prestige” beauty sales were driven by households with tweens and teens, according to the market research firm Circana."

"43% of gen Alpha in the US had tablets before the age of six and 58% received their first iPhone by age 10, according to one survey. US government research from 2023 described social media use as “nearly universal” at 95% use for those age 13 to 17 and nearly 40% for those age eight to 12"

Say the line Bart!!

ugh..

It's a symptom of collapse.

F*** advertising

i hate seeing ads in any capacity. manipulative mind poison

Sounds like a parenting aka skill issue.

its a societal issue

The tools made in our society should not be adversarial in nature. Your take is callous.

it's affecting the parents too

We must embark upon The Great Log Off expeditiously

Silver lining is that it’s exposed me to how stupid the average adult has become especially in the digital age without realizing it so I know the steps I have to take to avoid it

36:42

old man yells at cloud

old men be right sometimes, stay woke

They said this about television and they were right lol

Times Square tho

Older I get the more I realize they were right all along

listened first thing in the morning as she was making the remarks about the phone steering one to start the day and dam...yea..

thx for posting dawg

Giving your kid an iPad/tablet is the worst thing parents do at such early ages

Quickly frying attention spans

chalking down a literal mind control program that some fifty years ago would only be a reality in movies and novels to individual shortcomings is nasty and on the lowest of lows almost fascistic

'fuck your child for them and you not being able to navigate an inescapable system created to impose as much misery onto your being for as long time as possible'

ra the rugged man was right

"43% of gen Alpha in the US had tablets before the age of six and 58% received their first iPhone by age 10, according to one survey. US government research from 2023 described social media use as “nearly universal” at 95% use for those age 13 to 17 and nearly 40% for those age eight to 12"

All of this optional, not mandatory.

Adblocker + Brave Browser exists.

Nothing is solved by blaming nebulous “Tik Tok influencers”.

“Inescapable” is hyperbolic.

You escape it by turning off your phone.