If It’s Advertised to You Online, You Probably Shouldn’t Buy It. Here’s Why

In the past, most people would say they never bought anything based off of an add. Once, I personally did want to by a product from an Instagram add (a suitcase insert expanding to a full closet hanging rack) but it was a misrepresentation.

Nowadays, those same people happily buy 20 things recommended from obscure reddit subs, half obviously astroturfed and the other half... Astroturfed with more effort. It's amazing how easy it turned out to be! Paying someone to comment around is much cheaper than coordinating traditional ad campaigns.

I've said the same for ages, based on a simple algebra: given a budget B producing product P, B can be composed of many things. The most important subset of B is the funds used to improve the product (I), and advertisement does not materially affect the product. Therefore a good heuristic of max(I) from many similar-looking Ps, minimize the advertising spend in Ps B.