Why Advertisers Should Ask For Our Permission

‘Advertising is an invasion of personal privacy’. So said the famous boss of an advertising agency.

He went on to say:

The first thing we ought to demand from advertising or indeed from any message directed toward us is that it get our permission before speaking

That it not collar us at inappropriate times or places. That it be thoughtful of us. That it not interrupt. This is no more than we expect from friends or family so why take it from outsiders?

The man expressing these thoughts was Howard Luck Gossage — advertising man, marketer, and propaganda genius.

I was listening to a radio program about his life when I heard these words and it made me think.

I’m in two minds about advertising. I find some of it incredibly intrusive and annoying. But, as a marketer, I know that if done well it can be very effective.

Advertising as a necessary evil

Sometimes there is a good reason for allowing advertisers to direct their message to you. I’m thinking for example of media with useful content such as news publishers.

Without the revenue from advertisers, news publishers would almost certainly have to put their content behind a paywall in order to…