Gustaaf Haan

Gustaaf Haan believes that the role of advertising in society needs rethinking. The planet’s ecosystem has already started to collapse under the weight of our ever increasing consumption of energy, food and raw materials. Gustaaf thinks that we cannot curb climate change or the rapid decline of nature, without addressing the major drivers of consumerism itself. Advertising is one of them.

On top of that, advertising deliberately makes us unhappy. Satisfied consumers are worthless to the economy and it is the job of each and every advertisement to make us need something that we don’t have. Limiting the influence of advertising on our needs, our values and our behavior is not only needed to keep our planet inhabitable; it may help us to redefine our idea of what a good life entails.