Take a moment and consider the amount of tacky, poorly-made ads you see each day. And we are not talking about the ones you see on billboards or TV, with actual people giving them a green light. Some of these ads are trying to sell you on "miracle cures" that promise to "remove evil and negative energies from your life." Other ones seem like they were made by aliens confident that they've gotten the hang of how earthlings work. They might simply be made by AI, for all we know.
The point is, they're everywhere. And while the improvement in technology - and steep decline in our digital privacy - has promised to improve user experience with personified advertising, it's become even worse somehow. In 2007, for example, it was estimated that the average consumer saw up to 5,000 ads per day. And if that sounds "Black Mirror"-ish, hear this: the average person today is estimated to encounter between 6,000 to 10,000 ads every single day. That's twice as much as it was in the 2000s.
The worst part: more than 90% of spending on digital display ads today, according to Insider Intelligence, happens through automated software. Meaning that a lot of random, trashy advertisements fight for your attention each day because the screening process is just as susceptible to questionable advertisements as (some) people are to male enhancement ads and other "snake oil" promises.
While everything would be fine as it is - as long as these ads could be passed as mindless fodder we simply forget about in a flash - it's not. Because, it turns out, advertising makes us unhappy.
In order to understand what's the deal with ads ruining our already fleeting cheerfulness, Bored Panda spoke with Andrew Oswald, a Professor of Economics and Behavioural Science at the University of Warwick, who with his team delved into the correlation between advertising spending and life satisfaction among European citizens from 1980 to 2011. Armed with survey data gathered from over 900,000 people across 27 countries, Andrew was able to find out that the higher a country’s ad spend was per year, the less satisfied its citizens were likely to be in the next year or two.
"I view it as potentially consistent with common sense because the purpose of the advertising industry is to make humans dissatisfied with what they already have so that they pay out money to purchase new items (whether they truly need those items or not)," Oswald explained. To make a point, he told us that while he was typing this, a men's fashion company sent him an ad for a suit ("I already have lots of suits in my wardrobe.")
As we noted earlier, since Andrew's research concluded, the number of ads that bombard our peripheral vision each day has only doubled. Does that mean we will progressively get less and less happy as long as this continues?
It's quite possible, unfortunately. "We have allowed this to happen. I see a future world where we are bombarded by ever more adverts in even more sophisticated ways," Oswald argued, thus bringing to mind a Subway corpo-humanoid, a spokesperson for the brand who quite literally became the product he endorsed, in the hit TV show "Community."
At this point, you're probably thinking, "Is there a silver lining to all this?" Yes, the fact that advertisements directly affect our general happiness and governments allow this to continue is kind of maddening. But
In an era of ever-evolving advertising, finding a way to escape the endless stream of trashy ads can feel like a Sisyphean task. The struggle is only getting harder, too. Twitter recently put the kibosh on third-party services like 'Tweetbot' and 'Twitterific', which helped many users dodge unwanted ads (thanks, Elon). Then, a promising project that blocked YouTube ads (called 'Vance') was also forced to shut down in March 2022.
And if you thought YouTube was a safe haven, think again: the platform recently conducted an experiment that led to viewers being subjected to up to 10 unskippable ads in a row. It's not just YouTube, either. According to a survey done by Insider Intelligence last fall, over half of Facebook users reported seeing more ads on the platform, with nearly half of YouTube and Instagram users reporting the same.
So, does this mean that we're all doomed to live in a world where ads follow us everywhere we go, lurking around every digital corner, making us miserable each day? Not necessarily. According to Oswald, injecting a little humor into advertisements can make all the difference. "A humorous advertisement is better than a non-humorous one," he said.
It's he's absolutely right. While only 20% of brands report using humor in their offline ads, 90% of people said they might remember an ad better if it tickles their funny bone, “The Happiness Report” found out.
It may not be a perfect solution, but it's certainly a step in the right direction. As long as we're forced to endure crummy online ads, such as this gem, a little laughter just might be the saving grace we need.
