KarltheheretiK

Wow, I cannot believe this! I'm scrolling through Facebook and an advert for a t-shirt pops up. Not unusual for Facebook, but this particular shirt reads, "Grant me the Coffee to change the things I can & the Whiskey to accept the things I cannot." WTF? How did Facebook know I'm an addict who's specifically addicted to Irish Coffee?

By way of disclaiming, I'm pretty sure the Privacy Policy here says SR doesn't sell or share our info with outside companies. But I sure wouldn't put it past FB to steal info from this site. I've been on FB for close to a decade now and I've never seen any t-shirts that even mentioned alcohol. I join this site 5 days ago and all of the sudden, viola!

That's right, folks... the evil is everywhere!

least

I use an ad-blocker so I never see any ads.

KarltheheretiK

This wasn't a pop-up ad, if that's what you're referring too...

least

No, I don't get any ads at all. I use AdBlockPlus and UBlockOrigin and I never see ads.

https://adblockplus.org/

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/fir...ublock-origin/

Those links are for Firefox browser. There are different ones for different browsers. And they're free.

Buckley3

Yea. It's pervasive for sure.

Somedays it seems like every conversation at work someone has to mention booze or the bar or whatever.

I've just come to believe it's like so much of what surrounds us- superficial illusion. Call me a cynic... but.... I really do believe we are just absolutely saturated with make believe.

-B

KarltheheretiK

I guess ignorance is bliss... ;-)

Seriously, one of the techies on this site needs to let me know what's going on before I buy a bunch of guns and move to a bunker in Montana, lol!

ScottFromWI

Your internet browser remembers all the places you've been and things you've searched for and passes it on to the next site which in turn uses that info to target ads towards your browsing habits. Cookies are one way but there are many others.

Using a private browser that clears things out every time you use it can help, but the internet is a pretty wide open space.

StellaBlu

Hi Karl, Just wanted to say that I would have the same conclusion as you. And I share your concerns. This is exactly why I do not have a Facebook account believe it or not. Someone has a way to get at everything on the web. But really I’m not a conspiracy theorist.

lessgravity

The more I see how prevalent alcohol is in the world, the more I see how many other people don't drink as much as I did.

KarltheheretiK

I wouldn't have it either, but I have peeps spread out all over the country, and a couple out of country, and it's easier t keep up with them with Facebook.

Dee74

With my post count I think I'd get slammed if anyone was

I mostly use ad blocker like least but even before that I wasn't getting anymore alcohol ads than anyone else I know.

I'm not a techie and I'm a volunteer here but I wanted to put your mind to rest

D

Gerard52

Did you click on any ads on the site? If so you may have picked up a FB pixel that puts you in someone's custom audience. FB also trawls data on everything within the platform and puts in various categories and interests.

Berrybean

I started noticing things and seeing them differently when I got sober. Took up a big lot of brain space in my early days.

BB

catlover1989

Yup. Alcohol is everywhere. One thing I learned about rehab (and by observing the world) is that it is so pervasive in society, you cannot avoid it. Not unless you lock yourself in a cave and never see the world again. It's tough, for sure, and I think such a reason was why I was so reluctant to become sober - because I thought it's such an everyday thing; how can I deprive myself of it and be "normal?"

But I have now realised that such rationalisation was simply my inner addict attempting to get me to drink.

Lipstuck

Although the ads are creepy smart (my cousin was talking about margaritas and an ad popped up for tequila), it's also our culture. My friends are forever posting 'mommy needs a drink' related memes and similar things that glorify alcohol dependence.
I'm not a fan, and it's because I don't want to see other people get stuck in the rut that I'm clawing my way out of now. But that's just my personal opinion.

brighterday1234

Get recovered from alcoholism and advertising will lose all its power. You will be back to that neutral time as a young child where it didn’t concern you in the slightest. It’s a wonderful gift and freely available if you work for it.

Anna

I agree with what Scott and Dee said.

If you scroll to the bottom of this page (or any page) you will see the Privacy Policy and you can read it yourself.

nez

Applying Occam's razor helps my overly creative busy mind to slow down a bit which is beneficial to my recovery journey.

If there are several possible ways something might have happened, the way which uses the fewest guesses is probably the correct one.

If I hear hoofs, I can think horses... or I can think zebras.

KarltheheretiK

Not the one's on the sidebar. I did actually buy a shirt that came up in my feed once, but not from the company selling this shirt. I'm extremely paranoid about not clicking on ads and such. I don't know, maybe it was just a random occurrence...

Cosima11

Just like your mind will automatically hone in on anything alcohol related when you're in drinking/obsessing mode, your mind will automatically dismiss any images or stimuli when you're not. It just becomes background noise.

The first 3 months or so for me that "switch" could still be turned back on occasionally. Not the case anymore. I didn't believe people when they said that's possible but it really, truly is.

When I was trying to quit smoking I loathed this one "nicotine" song that plays on the radio sometimes. I thought who tf would make a song like that, how rude and inconsiderate... Now it's just a song. A terrible song nonetheless, but it holds no power over me.

All that aside using an ad blocker is probably a very smart move in general.