Recently, many debates have been sparked on whether a proscription on all types of advertisement may be societally beneficial due to their lack of purpose and damage they can potentially cause. In my humble opinion, governments should prohibit all forms of advertising for a number of reasons that I will outline below.
First of all, advertisements can be misleading for consumers. Nowadays, the majority of companies want their products to become best-sellers in order to gain a large amount of capital from them. Thus, they try to advertise their products by only highlighting their good side, while keeping their bad side all but hidden through fine print in the commercials. For example, fast-food chains boast about how delicious and flavorful their menu can be in ads, though they fail to alert people about the huge amount of fat within. Therefore, many will be misguided about the products they consume every day, leading to unpredictable consequences.
Secondly, many types of advertising can be an eyesore to many. Typically, adverts are laid out nearly everywhere in our daily lives, such as between TV shows, on big billboards on busy roads, or even in public toilet stalls. As a result, not only can they become a blot on the landscape, but also irritate several people by interrupting their everyday lives. For instance, imagine a beautiful and picturesque park with lush green grass and a big pond being ruined by seemingly out-of-place posters of a newly opened restaurant plastered on the trees. To illustrate further, watching a movie nearing its climax, just to be hit with a sudden advertisement about a new brand of shampoo, must be very annoying and irksome to deal with for some.
In conclusion, I am of the strong belief that a prohibition on commercials is a should. This is because of the misleading nature of them, accompanied by their unsightly presence.