Ads can have positive effects for society too. Say your hotel is empty and you advertise half price rooms - everyone one wins compared with that being banned.

The site you are commenting on is effectively an Ad for yc. Should that be banned?

> Such a weak minded assertion as "ban all advertising" without considering how that impacts freedom of speech is unbelievable.

There are many categories of products that are already not allowed to advertised, where meta-discussion about the products still works fine.

It's not "effectively" an ad for anything, it's a discussion forum. The fact that it also offers some publicity to YC's business is an additional aspect, but not the main one.

It's an "ad" in as much as anything. Not to mention it sells job advertisement space. It brings goodwill to the brand. A core tennant of advertising.

Such a weak minded assertion as "ban all advertising" without considering how that impacts freedom of speech is unbelievable.

How about -

Banning all color in ads, all images/videos in ads, all ads in public (busses, billboards, etc), music in ads. Simply black and white text information (which is what YC adheres to).

Any step in that direction I support.

Government dictated shop fronts for all. Death to design.

How would people know about a new product being launched?

Good point. So where do we draw the line between good advertising (i.e. new products, new movie trailers) and bad advertising (i.e. “beauty” product manipulations, sugary drink commercials)?