According to a recent study, advertising makes us unhappy.
This was the conclusion of a recent study that included 900,000 citizens of 27 European countries from 1980 – 2011. Whoa, that’s quite a study! You can read more of the methodology in the Harvard Business Review.
The results don’t surprise me—and probably don’t surprise you either. At the heart of every advertising message is a message that we are not as happy as we could be without their product in our lives. This item will lead to a happier, easier, more convenient, or more luxurious life.
Every advertisement seeks to stir up discontent and convince us that we are not as happy as we could be. No doubt then, that there would be some correlation between levels of unhappiness and frequency of advertisements that we see. You can read more in the article linked above.
Personally, I’m interested in a different conversation. If advertisements contribute to our unhappiness, how can we avoid them? What practical steps can we take in our everyday lives to remove ourselves from their constant barrage?
At one extreme, we could remove ourselves from civilization altogether. We could find a quiet cabin in the woods or on Walden Pond and never interact with anyone else.
That life might appeal to some, but not me. I like people, I like my neighborhood, and I like being involved in society. I enjoy social gatherings, my son’s soccer games, and hosting a small group in my home on Sunday nights. I could remove myself from civilization entirely, but that is not how I want to live.
Given the fact that I (along with many of you) will continue to live in the middle of a consumerist society, what steps can we take to limit the number of advertisements that we see? And ultimately increase our happiness because of it.
Here are a few ideas:
1. Do more things that make you forget to check your phone. By this, I mean, engage in more and more activites where you cannot be reached by advertisers. Play more board games with your family, spend more time in nature, read more books, or go play catch with your son in the backyard. When we get more involved with people or adventures, we see fewer advertisements.
2. Watch less television. Television is an entire medium based on the presumption that we can be manipulated into purchasing items advertised on the screen. It is true that streaming services have changed the industry quite a bit and you may believe that you are not being subjected to advertisements anymore. But I’d argue that’s not the case. Streaming services are still selling you something… even if it’s just on more and more of their streaming service. Spending less time on social media would have the same effect as watching less television.
3. Unsubscribe from email newsletters, magazines, and junk mail lists. One of the most proactive steps you can take today to reduce the number of advertisements you see is unsubscribe from email newsletters. At the bottom of every email newsletter you receive, you will find a “Click to unsubscribe” link. At first, going through this process may seem like a daunting task and never-ending battle. But just start clicking with each new email that arrives. You will be surprised how quickly they slow down and how quickly you’re able to get ahead of them. And while you’re at it, unsubscribe from ad-filled magazines and junk mail. Here’s some advice from Harvard on how to do that.
4. Go shopping less. Shopping is an interesting activity when you think about it. We are marketed to relentlessly outside of stores in order to get us inside. Once inside, we are subjected to even more advertisements and marketing messages. Spend less time at malls and department stores and you’ll see fewer advertisements. Equally so and maybe more important these days, spend less time at digital stores too.
5. Configure your computer to block pop-up ads. There are no fool-proof methods for blocking advertisements on your computer, but there are some reasonable steps you can take to limit the number you see. Here are some ideas for Mac users and some ideas for Windows users.
6. Don’t ignore ads, see through them instead. There is a tendency among all of us to think that advertisements don’t influence us. We foolishly believe we are unaffected by them. Or we assume if we aren’t paying attention, they are not influencing our thoughts. But the better approach, rather than ignoring ads, is to see through them instead. See through the false promises that they offer—that their product will help you get the girl, be the life of the party, or become the envy of the neighborhood. The more you recognize how a brand is trying to subtly stir up discontent in your life, the less likely they are to succeed.
The fewer advertisements we see, the happier we are. Which, by the way, may be one of the reasons you enjoy Becoming Minimalist so much (no ads).
It is likely impossible for you to remove every advertisement from your everyday life, but there are certainly positive steps we can take to limit them—and become happier because of it.
Valerie Rogers says
Consumerism, materialism are parts of capitalism – a system that takes no account of our happiness and is interested in its bottom line only. I don’t do tv nor radio. Problem is living in a hedonic treadmill on such a grand scale. The only way to deal with a society starving to sell you things is awareness; mentally intercepting these messages is all we can do. Agree to ignore ?
Jill D says
Don’t just block pop-up ads on the internet. Block all advertisements. There are a lot of ways to do it, but probably the easiest is to install an ad-blocker on your browser. Not just on your home computer or laptop, but also your mobile phone.
Laura Benjamin says
I see virtually no ads because of doing the above items. I would add one, though: be very intentional about what magazines you buy, and learn to screen out the ads as you read. That’s easy. We all know what they look like. Just give the page a quick scan and turn it if it’s ads. Some magazines have all their full-page ads on one side, so just skip those pages. I can now sit at the doctor’s office, pick up a magazine, and read articles without seeing ads. When the artlcles are about getting stuff, I get another magazine to try.
Sandra Richardson says
My family of 5 share a Spotify account to avoid radio commercials.
Only watch TV programs that we have taped so we can fast-forward through the ads.
Cancelled all magazine subscriptions, and only read books that we borrow for free at the library.
No longer go to movie theatres (with their 20 minutes of pre-movie ads), and borrow DVDs from the library.
Limit their internet use to one hour a day, unless it’s for homework.
I think we have reduced our kids exposure to advertising by about 75%.
Great post!
Emily says
#3 – Instead of unsubscribing completely, I set a rule that these emails directly go to different folders. That way, I choose the time to look through them. When its time for me to go shopping, I’ll scan through my “shopping and sales” folders to look for coupons and special sales. But they’re not in my face (or inbox) anymore. Same with newsletters and blog posts. Every so often, I’ll go through and unsubscribe from the ones that no longer interest me.
Jessica says
Sadly I find this post highly ironic. I have been absolutely inundated with constant advertising for your course for the last couple of months straight. It has been plugged in almost every message from here so I finally unsubscribed from the advertising on here.
Unfortunately I then had to unsubscribe from no sidebar because there was no way to avoid it there. This actually is very sad and even more ironic as it was named no sidebar originally since the intent was to share fresh inspired content with NO ADVERTISING.
Even more frustrating is the fact that almost every other blogger that I subscribe to in this area has ALSO been constantly plugging the course. It has been EVERYWHERE even though I actually don’t watch tv, don’t get barely any store adds etc in my email Yet I have found my self with daily bombardment from 95% of the sources that were my weekly highlights of inspiration in my inbox! Do I just unsubscribe completely from all of you? I don’t want to do that because you all have been positive and inspiring for me. It has really reached epic levels lately and I find myself very morally bothered and overall irritated.
Even over at the minimalists who I love they have started this “really cool text my actual phone to converse experiment” yet in order to take part you have to agree to receive advertising via text on your phone…. WHAT IS GOING ON YOU GUYS? I know you all have to make a living but this is the opposite of the messages being put out!
With nothing but love, concern and wishes for the best, Jessica
Amy says
I agree with your comments, Jessica, and have also unsubscribed from or stopped reading completely many “minimalist” blogs that are constantly hocking their “life changing” courses.
I’ll also find it ironic there was no mention of social media or blog advertising. Social media platforms and blogs have become so overrun with “influencers” it’s almost impossible to find authentic content any more. (Has anyone else noticed at least half of Joshua’s weekend reads are links to content he wrote!) Everything feels like a commodity now. The simple fact that bloggers and influencers can make a living — in some cases, a very good living — should make us all pause and question who is driving the content we all consume each day on blogs and social media (hint: it’s companies who want to sell us something). Same message, new —-and more effective —messengers.
Steve says
I empathize with where both of you are coming from. We live in an era of constant disruption to established norms. It is virtually impossible to pay for content that doesn’t sell you anything. Instead the model is “Here’s all this free content and you’re going to pay for it by serving a member of a monetized audience.” Because this is now so widely accepted as the norm for funding content creation, it becomes a numbers game and individuals liked you and I don’t even have a choice beyond turning off the content entirely.
While I’m optimistic that one day, the masses will realize how dehumanizing the mechanics behind content consumption and social media are, I’m not going to bet on it happening either.
joan mckniff says
Agree. I resisted “wasting” money on an online ad remover until I decided to give myself one as a gift. So much relief and pleasure for so little money.
My TV “habit” is a big free help. No ads, quality programs PBS, and my no ads escapIst treat TCM.
Jill D says
Ad blockers are free “add-ons” to at least some browsers, like Firefox. No need to spend money on them.
Mark Amos says
I’ve found that watching less television has helped in a couple of ways, including less adverts.
But, I really like #6 because it encourages a healthy skepticism and can be applied to both advertising and “news” programs.
Great tips, I really appreciate what you’re doing.
Mary Cantando says
Whenever my computer “forces” me to sit through a video ad, I use it as a reminder to do deep breathing exercises. So I actually benefit from these ads without having to pay attention to them.
Rick H says
Love this! Turning a perceived negative into a positive is always an admirable action.
As for me, I essentially blank out all ads, and/or derive satisfaction with having not being persuaded by them. For me, saving cash is way better than being a ‘consumer sucker’.
Jacqueline Chanturai says
and all these stupid advertisers who think people are going to read their adds I turn off the tv rather than lessening to them read a book my friend reading enrich your lives
Maire says
Another way to significantly lessen the impact of ads, if you are wat hing TV, is to press MUTE the moment the ads begin and not to turn on the volume again until the programme restarts.