From violations of privacy, to the mainpulation or even maliciousness at its core, I think marketing at it’s current state is poison to society. But I also think it might be a necessary evil. What would be a good alternative implementation of advertising look like? Or do we even need it? If the former, how would advertising look in a non-capitalist society?
Given the shift towards online shopping, the businesses can easily provide the necessary information along with the product they are selling. In that case, only those customer who are looking for a specific type of product get to see the information. Retains the necessary elements of advertising & marketing without the unnecessary element of consumerism.