Not too long ago in a fit of the blues, I got the urge to do something really horrible to myself.  So, I’m sitting at the local Denny’s and I notice something different from the last time I was there.  Large televisions, mounted on the walls and hanging from the ceilings, all blabbering away with specially made Denny’s programming, blippy little short bits about sports, movies, upcoming television shows and so forth.

It appears that some genius at the Denny’s Central Command decided that my dining experience would somehow be enhanced by a steady stream of television commercials.  I have two answers to this.  The first is that when I have some extra cash, I’m going to buy myself a TV-Be-Gone.  Everyone with an IQ higher than the body temperature of road kill should own one of these babies and use them regularly.

The second answer is something along the lines of, “Are you fucking kidding me?”  Is there any place one can go anymore and not find the local atmosphere saturated with some form of advertising? And not just a sign or a poster, but in the case cited the output of a whole studio’s worth of moving, talking, amplified content.  This stuff is going all the time.  Yes, there is a lot of repetition, but they have to keep adding more material.  Wouldn’t it be cheaper for Denny’s to just drop this nonsense and allow their patrons to enjoy their food in peace?

If you look at old ads, in print or broadcast, they appear quaint.  Even innocent.  The hooks are obvious, deployed in a way that seems almost demure.  Over the years the marketing business has become more sophisticated, but so also has a large fraction of the intended audience.  I see it as a kind of selection pressure that more and more (but not nearly enough) people seem to understand the explicit dishonesty and almost combative manipulation that goes on.  This is especially true of political advertising (Thanks, Lee Atwater!).

Full disclosure: I understand that marketing is the lubricant that keeps business moving.  It helps get the word out, and sells stuff.  I will also acknowledge that while I understand intellectually how marketing works, for the life of me I totally suck at self-promotion, or promoting what modest business ventures I’ve tried to undertake.  So you could chalk up my absinthian vehemence to plain jealousy.

But I also have lately begun wondering if part of the epidemic of mental depression that we see in the modern world is not at least partly the result of a multi-billion dollar industry whose sole purpose is to create industrial quantities of discontent.  Make someone unhappy, or touch that particular nerve, and then sell them the “solution” which they know in their heart of hearts won’t do a damned thing.  And when you are of limited means, as I am at the moment, the negative effect is multiplied all the more.

While I’m on the subject, I’ve also notice that advertising, especially on the web, tends to dilute, obscure, or drown actual information.  If you go looking for information on a topic that draws a lot of advertising, you will find that there is a tremendous quantity of bullshit out there masquerading as information, and much of that is advertising or supporting an ad campaign of one kind or another.  So it actually can make it harder to sift out the information you want from all the chaff.  By the way, you’re unlikely to  see that when you research something in a public library.

So let me propose an idea: Create an “ad-free zone” somewhere in your life.  In that zone, you have no electronic media that carries advertising.  No magazines with flashy ad spreads.  No windows looking out over billboards or the like.  TiVo is your friend.  So is canceling your cable subscription all together. Make your space quiet, if you like, or loaded with boisterous music–but no advertising.  If you try to create an ad-free zone, you will find that it can be (a) surprisingly difficult to do and (b) well worth the effort.  It’s not good to let someone tell you what to think when their salary depends on them succeeding.

Now, spend time there.  Read (ad-free) books, listen to music (your own or some ad-free alternative like public radio or satellite radio), or watch a DVD (you’ll have to decide whether product placement in a movie counts as an ad).  Make it an older movie if you want to be sure.

The fact is, as far as the advertising world and their paymasters are concerned, you are just a little cash container to be squeezed until there is nothing left.  The ad man is not concerned for your health, wealth, or sanity.  They will say whatever they think will sell, as loudly as they think they need to, until you cry uncle and fork over your dough.  So make yourself a space of freedom from their yammering.  Then make another, and expand them.  Seriously, consciously cutting one’s exposure to advertising can be one of the mentally healthiest things one can do in this world.