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Comment by manfredo | Hacker News Reader

> What about elective medical treatments?

Should companies have to advertise mammograms to men? Or vasectomies to women?I would object to this - not because of targeting certain populations but on the grounds that ads for medical treatment should not be run at all.

> What about vacation deals (often partially sponsored by real estate interests)?

Why not? I don't see how people would be negai impacted by not being exposed to vacation deals. Jobs, credit, and housing are necessities and if a group has lessened exposure to those opportunities they are at a disadvantage. Trips to Vegas are not necessities and not being exposed to deals to go to Vegas are not harmed (one could even argue that the ones being advertised to are the ones harmed here).

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> Should companies have to advertise mammograms to men?

That's the same strawman though! There are an endless list of products that are clearly targetted in some kind of inherent way. My point is that there is an equally large list of ones that are gray areas, and that if your policy is "advertise whatever to whoever you want" you're going to be engaging in an awful lot of accidental discrimination.

So sure, make your exceptions for tampons and birth control. Just let them be exceptions.

> Why not? I don't see how people would be negai impacted by not being exposed to vacation deals.

You say that now, until, oops, it turns out you've been running ads for condos in a de facto whites-only resort community. Who could have known, amirite?

Whats wrong with running ads for condos in a whites-only resort community? If their internal numbers show that this community has a really high chance of conversion, why should they target something else on a finite ad budget? Can't a company decide who it wants to sell to?

Are there de jure whites-only resort communities in the US?

To answer your questions:

> Whats wrong with running ads for condos in a whites-only resort community?

- profiting from racists

- ghetto creation

- perpetuating harmful discrimination

- assisting in the longevity of a community which exacerbates the prior 3 issues

> If their internal numbers show that this community has a really high chance of conversion, why should they target something else on a finite ad budget?

They shouldn't. But also it shouldn't be available to them, by law.

> Can't a company decide who it wants to sell to?

In the general case, yes, but since the civil rights movement, you cannot refuse goods or services to someone based on race. That includes housing. I was under the impression this was widely known.

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