• mulcahey@lemm.ee
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    8 months ago

    Folks are asking “Why post this here?” I get the question but I think I also get the OP, as a New Yorker who was surprised to see this ad IRL.

    Most of our subway ads are for VC-funded Internet darlings (think: mattresses-by-mail, kitschy underwear, online therapy) or for some aspiring blockbuster movie from an Internet giant.

    Until I saw this ad, I had never in my life seen a subway ad for a company I actually used, let alone respected.

    Seeing this ad in the wild broke my brain. I have advocated for online privacy for over a decade. I have spent so much energy pushing people to use Signal. But I had never before imagined that “online privacy” was a concept that could find an audience in mass marketing.

    I don’t know if Mullvad will take off. But I know that seeing these ads moved me. I felt like maybe, MAYBE, our movement is breaking through.

    • badbrainstorm @lemmy.today
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      8 months ago

      I saw this on the LA lines as well and it made me very uneasy and concerned. I went down this road with NordVPN back in the day. There ads popping up everywhere was the beginning of a massive decline in services and questionable privacy practices. Also Ubuntu and many other open source companies… I’m love Mullvad, and hope very much this isn’t the beginning of the end of one of the few trustworthy VPN’s!

  • bloodfart@lemmy.ml
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    8 months ago

    Normal ad for a normal thing.

    “Uhh, so what kinda ad do you think would really reach your target market?”

    “I’m thinking train car mural authored by the most mental illnessed man in town”

  • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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    8 months ago

    I hate ads on the outside of windows. And they give the little pinholes, like that’s supposed to be enough. The world becomes a blur. Out the window is the least anxious place to look on public transport, but they put ads all over the windows, and give us this pinhole grid crap like it makes up for it.

    • badbrainstorm @lemmy.today
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      8 months ago

      Yes, the wraps are a total bummer for sightseeing! They are very common in LA though, as not only a means of $$$'s in revenue, but as a cooling measure. The busses and above ground rail with these wraps are much cooler and easier to AC in the summer

    • mulcahey@lemm.ee
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      8 months ago

      Agreed. There’s a slight relief here, though: I believe this is the Times Square shuttle train, which only runs back and forth over a few stations and never goes outside. So at least you’re not on this train for long and never missing a view

  • fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    This looks like something you’d see on /r/schizophreniarides

    Side note but has that or InfowarriorRides migrated to lemmy yet?

  • 0x2d@lemmy.ml
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    8 months ago

    from authorit

    every scroll

    from ad net

    browsing his

    control and sh

    fight for privacy.

    MULLVAD VPN

  • otterpop@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    One of the things I liked about Mullvad was that they didn’t advertise. Has this changed recently or did they always do outdoor ads?

    • Logical@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      I’ve seen their ads in Sweden before IIRC. They don’t seem to be very common though. Why don’t you like that they’re advertising?

      • otterpop@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        When companies start to focus too much on growth usually they start to lose sight of their values and greed begins to take over. That said I just checked their ad policy and while they do physical ads, it’s still a pretty reasonable policy.

        They still won’t be showing up on random YouTubers videos like Nord

        • Urist@lemmy.ml
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          8 months ago

          Infinite growth on finite resources is such a bad idea on so many levels.

      • Simon Müller@sopuli.xyz
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        7 months ago

        They’ve actually ran adverts at the border of sweden telling politicians and alike that were going there to vote on IIRC ChatControl to vote against it

        Mullvad is probably the best example of using ads for something good

        • Logical@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          I agree with that, it’s important to consider what’s being advertised and in what way.

    • icermiga@lemmy.today
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      8 months ago

      Each account has an allowance of five devices, although you can de-register and re-register devices as much you want, it only takes clicking. So yes.