1.
The Rebirth of Advertising:
How to Get from the Gold Rush
to the Golden Age
David Berkowitz
Chief Strategy Officer, Sysomos
dberkowitz@sysomos.com
@dberkowitz / @sysomos

2.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
This talk was presented to the La French Touch NYC conference in June 2017.
See the notes field in the downloaded presentation for sources and other
related info. On Twitter, you can find hashtags from the conference via the
#LFTCNYC hashtag or following @LaFrenchTouchConf.
Note that this was originally called The End of Advertising. Then I realized
Forrester recently released a report with the same title (I then quoted it here),
and Andrew Essex also used that as a title for his book (also quoted here). The
title was also a bit misleading for this talk. This is about looking forward – not
at the end, but a new beginning.
Thanks for reading this. - David

3.
Search AnalyzeEngageListenDiscover Publish
Sysomos Unified Integrated Platform
Sysomos is a unified integrated platform for earned, owned, and paid that helps you get in control and stay in control
of your digital strategy at scale, with the capabilities you need most (and without the stuff you’ll never use).
This is my one pitch slide for Sysomos, where I serve the marketing tech firm as their Chief Strategy
Officer. See more at sysomos.com, and contact me at dberkowitz@sysomos.com with any questions or
thoughts on how we can collaborate.

4.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
And now, on with
our story…

5.
We’re in a post-trust world

6.
Agencies
Consumers
Marketers
Publishers
Tech
Companies
VC, PE
firms

7.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
Let’s play…
What’s wrong with
this picture?

8.
Ads on top of ads! Do you
wonder why ad blockers
are popular?

9.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
ADVERTISING =
GREEDY

10.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
Advertisers were pitted against publishers in a zero-
sum game where advertisers "win" by getting the
best inventory as cheaply as possible, and publishers
"win" by selling the worst inventory possible at the
highest price possible… Agencies and ad networks
fight to deliver profitable media buys because too
many people have their hand in the arbitrage cookie
jar.
- Judy Shapiro, CEO, engageSimply

11.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
ADVERTISING =
DEVALUED

12.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
ADVERTISING =
UGLY

13.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
Agencies and their clients need to recapture some of
the respect, fun and profitability of working in what
was once one of the most fulfilling and glamorous of
industries but has become a grim sweatshop for the
people who do the work.
-Michael Farmer, Madison Avenue Manslaughter

14.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
ADVERTISING =
GRIM

15.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
The robots did not care whether you bought one
style of clothing or another, ate in one restaurant or
another, lived in one kind of housing or another...
Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a fad
caught on… it all happened by word of mouth.
- Marshall Brain, Manna

16.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
ADVERTISING =
DYSTOPIA

17.
For the past 50 years, we’ve essentially pursued a
model called “command and control,” which is to
interrupt people in the rudest possible way with
something they didn’t ask to see, which is most
exemplified by interrupting a TV program at a
moment of great interest to show you a 30-second
toilet-paper spot.
-Andrew Essex, The End of Advertising

18.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
ADVERTISING =
RUDE

19.
It’s the online privacy nightmare come true: a
company you’ve never heard of scraping up your
data trails and online bread crumbs in order to mine
some of the most sensitive information about you.
-Kashmir Hill and Surya Mattu, Gizmodo

20.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
ADVERTISING =
NIGHTMARE

21.
Without express consent, most of us have passively
opened ourselves up to the commercial exploitation
of our attention just about anywhere and anytime. If
there is to be some scheme of zoning to stem this
sprawl, it will need to be mostly an act of will on the
part of the individual.
-Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants

22.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
ADVERTISING =
EXPLOITATITVE

23.
…We don’t want to waste time and money on a
crappy media supply chain.
-Marc Pritchard, Chief Brand Officer, P&G

24.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
ADVERTISING =
CRAPPY

25.
Society doesn't need advertising like it used to. People
have less time for interruption-driven media. At the same
time, they are putting more trust in intelligent agents to
guide their decisions.
-Forrester Research, “The End of Advertising”

26.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
ADVERTISING =
USELESS

27.
• No digital
• No TV
• Just NYC
• Created by a TV
show about
advertising

28.
“On Monday night here in
Cannes, the campaign came
full circle, as it picked up gold
Lions in both the Outdoor and
Print & Publishing Lions
contests (and adding a silver
Lion in Print as well).”
- Adweek
It is a beautiful
campaign – simple,
elegant, powerful
visuals. But if it’s that
great, why not run it as
a major brand
campaign, not an OOH
stunt that seems
designed to solely win
awards and generate a
bit of PR?

29.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
ADVERTISING =
RECYCLABLE

30.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
ADVERTISING =
INVASIVE

31.
The jury calls the ad “intrusive” and it wins one of the most prestigious awards. Granted, I thought it was
an innovative stunt, one that I’d have approved as the client if it could have worked without editing
Wikipedia (something too precious to too many people to mess with). It’s the disconnect between calling
something a stunt and some award-worthy, groundbreaking work that is jarring, especially when taking
into account the consumer’s perspective.

32.
That sums up the disconnect between how ad
people think of ads and how the rest of the
world does. No wonder everyone hates us.

33.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
GOLDEN AGE OF
RADIO

34.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
“Liberty, equality,
fraternity”
“Yup, we’re still
pretty racist”
A proper translation of our national mottos…

35.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
FIRST GOLDEN AGE
OF TV

36.
America was prosperous. Everyone watched the same stuff. And
soap operas were the model for TV: the brand was behind and often
integrated with the programming.

37.
The 1960s heralded the so-called Golden Age of Advertising. That’s when the
Flintstones were pushing Winstons. Do we really want to return to these days?

38.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
SECOND GOLDEN
AGE OF TV

39.
This new Golden Age is epitomized by binge watching. And shows
that people binge typically have no ads – or they’re watched on-
demand when people can skip whatever ads originally aired.

40.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
GOLDEN AGE
OF DIGITAL

41.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
A NEW GOLDEN
AGE… OF ADS?

42.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
HOPE

43.
In America, we love hope!

44.
We had the man from Hope!

45.
We had hope and change!

46.
And now we have even more hope!

47.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
ADVERTISING =
TRANSPARENT

48.
With blockchain for media, you’ll be able to have total
transparency… Because it’s a clear supply chain, it’ll also be
ad-tech players in that mix that will no longer be necessary.
If everybody has the same information, you won’t need
every single one of them.
Babs Rangalah, Executive Partner, IBM iX

49.
Client bill of rights – Dave Smith

50.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
ADVERTISING =
IMPACTFUL

51.
Noting how kids without clean clothes often didn’t show up to
school, Whirlpool donated washers and dryers to communities
where kids struggled. 90% of kids participating increased school
attendance.

52.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
ADVERTISING =
RECIPROCAL

53.
Adobe created its TV spot for Photoshop based on the work people
created with it. This kind of co-creation, or storymaking, is a great
way to put customers at the center of the marketing.

54.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
ADVERTISING =
VALUABLE

55.
During the 2016 election season, Boost Mobile turned stores into
polling stations to make it easier for disenfranchised voters
(demographically, its customers) to vote.

56.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
ADVERTISING =
THOUGHTFUL

57.
Thailand property development company AP Public Company
Limited found abandoned lots in neighborhoods without much
public space and transformed them into soccer fields.

58.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
ADVERTISING =
FUN

59.
For The Art Institute of Chicago, Leo Burnett created real-life versions of Van
Gogh’s “The Bedroom” and allowed people to book the residence on
AirBNB.

60.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
ADVERTISING =
INFORMATIVE

61.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
ADVERTISING =
CONSENSUAL

62.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
ADVERTISING =
DOESN’T SHOW YOU THE SAME
AD OVER AND OVER AGAIN EVEN
AFTER YOU ALREADY BOUGHT IT
OR WERE ONLY RESEARCHING
SOMETHING FOR YOUR NIECE’S
GRADUATION PARTY

63.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
ADVERTISING =
RESPECTFUL

64.
We are in the storytelling business, not necessarily the
advertising business. We’re in the advertising business as
long as it allows us to tell our stories to more people. When
it becomes a detriment – when it starts to turn people away
– it hurts our storytellers.
-Joe Marchese, President, Advertising Revenue, Fox
Networks Group

65.
Of course, 30 Rock predicted
all this with their 10-second
sitcom, Makin’ It Happen

66.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
One request before we part ways:
Are you working on ushering in the
Golden Age of Ads,
leaving the Gold Rush behind?
I want to hear from you. Please contact me
(details are on the next slide).

67.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
Keep in touch! À bientôt!
• Email: dberkowitz@sysomos.com
• Sysomos: www.sysomos.com / @sysomos
• Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram: @dberkowitz
• My blog: www.serialmarketer.net
Want to share this? Link: bit.ly/theendofads

68.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
Epilogue:
The Legend
of King
Dotcomidas
This story wasn’t shared during the talk, but I wrote it while
toying with the themes here and decided to include it.

69.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
Once upon a time, there emerged a new king named Dotcomidas. He
wasn’t content to be a king though. He wanted to be one of the
gods – especially the god of Televisia, sitting in her golden throne.
To curry favor with Televisia, the king ordered his finest weavers to
create a garment for her – an impeccably tailored robe he called the
Cloak of Addressibility. Televisia, tantalized by the riches it would
bring her, accepted it, and offered him the reward of his choosing.
King Dotcomidas said he wished for everything he touched to turn
to gold.

70.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
King Dotcomidas returned home and started touching everyone in
his kingdom. His reach expanded far and wide. Every time he
reached someone, he turned them into gold. By monetizing them,
he grew richer and richer. Their eyeballs proved to be the most
valuable of all, so he kept selling them.
As he sold more of them, there was a glut in the market. As the
price dropped, he had to sell more of his subjects’ eyeballs just to
maintain the value of his kingdom. When that wasn’t enough, he
had to create fake people and pretend they were also made of gold.

71.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
But then, people were wondering if he should really be king. So they
dug moats and put up paywalls to block him. They turned their
backs and ignored him. They said, “Enough.” The subjects
surrendered to his touch when they felt compelled to visit some of
his realms, such as Googland, Facebookkan, and Amazonia, as well
as the dark and massive Desert of Pornlandia, but otherwise, the
king was shunned – whether protested, or ignored.
That left King Dotcomidas with a choice. He could choose to keep
his power or his people. If he kept wielding his power, his people
would turn on him. If he caved to his people, the King would need to
renounce his godly power and find a new path to fund his lavish
tastes.

72.
“The robots did not care whether you bought one style of clothing or another,
ate in one restaurant or another, lived in one kind of housing or another... It
was all the same to them. Therefore, there was no need for advertising. If a
fad caught on… it all happened by word of mouth. “
Brain, Marshall. Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (Kindle Locations
1073-1075). BYG Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
He is currently agonizing over his
decision.
Which path will he choose?
To be continued…