To the point: bite inhibition
The Swiss people smoke, they are too fat, they drink too much, they consume food that contains too much sugar and dangerous trans fats. They drive cars that are too heavy - off-roaders even with aggressive front ends - that consume too much fuel and harm the environment.
The Swiss people smoke, they are too fat, they drink too much, they consume food that contains too much sugar and dangerous trans fats. They drive cars that are too heavy - off-roaders even with aggressive front ends - that consume too much fuel and harm the environment.
Our society is increasingly characterized by an abstruse need for security. Everything should be regulated. The state is supposed to fix it. The state is supposed to be responsible for the physical and psychological integrity of the masses, called the population. Everything that is unhealthy or potentially dangerous should be restricted or banned. More and more advertising bans are threatening. The regulations on what can be said in advertising and in what form will become increasingly rigid in the future.
Moralizers and politicians addicted to profiling form an unholy alliance to protect the population from their behavior. Personal responsibility is not an issue; people must be forced to be happy.
That this is not a specifically Swiss problem is shown by the latest initiative of the EU Parliament. This week, it decided that advertising that cements gender stereotypes is discriminatory and sexist and should therefore be banned.
Further advertising bans or restrictions will come our way. Because some fool who wants to make a name for himself will always find a way to do so. Be it in Brussels or in Bern.
Media live or survive because of advertising. This applies not only to the free press, which is on the upswing, but also to the paid press. A newspaper subscription that would have to compensate for the lack of advertising revenue would be x times more expensive than it is today. That is a fact. So freedom for advertising should actually be the publishers' highest goal.
In any other industry, there would be a fight. Sharp protest notes would be written. People would try to fight the looming threat. But what does the media industry do? Nothing. On the contrary. Instead of fighting clearly and uncompromisingly against the current and future advertising bans, it goes underground. Where are the flaming articles for economic and advertising freedom?
One of the most important tasks of the press is to highlight grievances. It does that in a great many cases. It analyzes political decisions and raps politicians on the knuckles. Only in this area of advertising bans and restrictions does an inexplicable reluctance to bite afflict the media. It's like being ashamed to stand up for something that secures your own existence. There is probably no industry that is so stupid as not to support the branch that allows it to survive.
Pierre C. Meier, Editor-in-Chief
[email protected]
Our society is increasingly characterized by an abstruse need for security. Everything should be regulated. The state is supposed to fix it. The state is supposed to be responsible for the physical and psychological integrity of the masses, called the population. Everything that is unhealthy or potentially dangerous should be restricted or banned. More and more advertising bans are threatening. The regulations on what can be said in advertising and in what form will become increasingly rigid in the future.
Moralizers and politicians addicted to profiling form an unholy alliance to protect the population from their behavior. Personal responsibility is not an issue; people must be forced to be happy.
That this is not a specifically Swiss problem is shown by the latest initiative of the EU Parliament. This week, it decided that advertising that cements gender stereotypes is discriminatory and sexist and should therefore be banned.
Further advertising bans or restrictions will come our way. Because some fool who wants to make a name for himself will always find a way to do so. Be it in Brussels or in Bern.
Media live or survive because of advertising. This applies not only to the free press, which is on the upswing, but also to the paid press. A newspaper subscription that would have to compensate for the lack of advertising revenue would be x times more expensive than it is today. That is a fact. So freedom for advertising should actually be the publishers' highest goal.
In any other industry, there would be a fight. Sharp protest notes would be written. People would try to fight the looming threat. But what does the media industry do? Nothing. On the contrary. Instead of fighting clearly and uncompromisingly against the current and future advertising bans, it goes underground. Where are the flaming articles for economic and advertising freedom?
One of the most important tasks of the press is to highlight grievances. It does that in a great many cases. It analyzes political decisions and raps politicians on the knuckles. Only in this area of advertising bans and restrictions does an inexplicable reluctance to bite afflict the media. It's like being ashamed to stand up for something that secures your own existence. There is probably no industry that is so stupid as not to support the branch that allows it to survive.
Pierre C. Meier, Editor-in-Chief
[email protected]
