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Ginger666 @lemmy.world

11mo ago

Fuck ads at the gas pump

Idk if this is the right instance for this, but how fucking tired of these forced ads at gas pumps is everyone else?

I'm paying 4 bucks a gallon to have you shove advertising down my throat like an erect cock?

What the actual fuck

Anyone have any good ad blocking practices for this?

I've seen duct or painters tape covering the speakers...

You can press a button next to the screen to mute it, but this doesn't work at all gas stations. (Usually its the 2nd from the top on the right side)

I guess its just time to gettoblast music every time I pump gas like back when I was 19....

326 comments

- One time I put in my card, but the pump couldn't show me an ad because it crashed. My card was stuck in the pump. The guys inside tried resetting the pump but that didn't work, so they said it'd be a week before someone came around to fix it. I had to cancel the card and get a new number. All because I couldn't watch the ads.
  
  I hope you paid them for the lost ad revenue you caused them to suffer.
  
  I’ve never seen a pump that took a card inside it like an ATM; did you mean the transaction was stuck or the physical card?
  
  Pliers woulda worked (from experience). I always keep a pair handy for this and other more practical reasons.
- The one thing that would push people to electric. At least then you can charge at home and avoid gas stations.
  
  Don't worry; they'll just start playing ads in the car itself before you are able to shift gears to drive.
  
  Discounted electric rates on your ad-supported charging plug…
- I am pretty sure this already happened to me. Had to wait before prompted to enter payment. :(
- And then once enough people buy the premium membership they'll start putting ads on those, too.
- Costco has no ads for the time being, and I can’t see it going with ads because they can only slow the sale of gasoline that people already line up for after paying to access the ability to buy it.
- Stahp
- Shhhh! Don't give them fucking ideas!

This is one of those American absurdities that thankfully hasn't made its way over to Europe yet, at least to my knowledge. I hope I have an electric car by the point they start introducing these here.
- In Finland our equivalence to Wal-Mart also sells cheap gas and they have ads on their pumps advertising their own products but it's just on the display and there's no sound with it.
  
  That is how it started here. Then they got loud.
  
  Would be nice if the gas was less expensive at the stores with ads. At least that's not the case in my area. 5 min down the road the same company has pumps without ads for the same price.
- Oh yes they tried. The damn thing scared me when that ad started playing. I haven't been back at that station again. Some other stations do have ads playing but those are silent, so I guess they do learn customers don't like the loud ads.
  
  Huh, I guess living in a small town with gas stations that have had the exact same pumps for many decades has its perks.
  
  Find the old gas station
- We've got some in the UK, like this one at the Shell petrol station at S60 5ND (pic from Oogle Gearth)
  
  Is that a scale so you can weigh your gas?
  
  A shell in Australia is the only place i've seen this as well. They will not be getting our custom.
- get an e-bike :)
- I've been driving an EV for a few years, but I flew out of state and had to rent a car recently. I'd never experienced this before then. It was one of the most dystopian experiences ever, leaving me feeling dirty and used.
  I don't think I could keep myself from vandalizing those things if I had to do that constantly.
- Why do you think charging stations will be immune? Plus with all the ‘smart’ ‘connected’ cars it’s not impossible for them to push ads directly to your car.
  
  What sucks about charging stations is they don’t have:
  trash cans
  squeegees to clean my windshield
  a portico to keep the rain off my head
  a little convenience store with coffee and snacks
  
  EV charging doesn’t require you to stand around for 5 minutes holding a handle to fuel up. The charging times are longer, but once plugged in your need to stay anywhere near the vehicle is zero. And plugging in usually takes less than 5s.
  So even if someone came up with a system whereby they expected you to watch an ad before the power would flow, you could always just plug in and walk away. How are they going to know you’re physically there?
  As an EV driver I haven’t been to a gas station since I started driving it, but AFAIK this advertising hasn’t come to Canada — and hopefully it never does.
- There are some of these pumps in France. It infuriates me. The sound is horrible.

Anyone have any good ad blocking practices for this?
Don't buy gas from places that do this. Hasn't failed me yet and if more people did it maybe they'll stop.
- They'd just blame millennials for ruining buying gas and double down on the ads.
  
  More that I don't know of a single gas station without ads
- As you are able I'd highly recommend going electric. Then you don't even have to go to gas stations. If you're able to charge at home (which I'm aware many are not) it's even better because anytime you leave the house you can have a full tank.
  
  I have an electric car and the result is a loss of 20% of my income in the form of time spent twiddling my thumbs while the thinks slowly accumulates charge.

"People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you’re not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen and they bully you with it. They are The Advertisers and they are laughing at you.
You, however, are forbidden to touch them. Trademarks, intellectual property rights and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like wherever they like with total impunity.
Fuck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It’s yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.
You owe the companies nothing. Less than nothing, you especially don’t owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don’t even start asking for theirs."
– Banksy
- Interested in a Adam Curtis video on the merger of psychology, marketing, and politics?
- That's why my hobby is firing infrared lasers at soviet early launch warning satellites.

The ones here, you can't mute. Pisses me off so bad I will refuse to back to a gas station. I have even pulled up seen the ads on another pump and drove off. I'm not a fucking captive! Congrats on losing money greedy fucks!
- Push and hold the left and right top buttons to put it in maintenance mode. You can do everything normally, but no sound.
  
  Does this work universally or is there a particular station you frequent that it works at?
- Are there any potential repercussions for sticking a utility knife into the speaker grill?
  
  Mild electric shock and a vandalism charge if caught. Worth it? I don't know but I'm getting sick of the fucking ads
  Edit: So stab then pump, instead of the other way around to avoid boom boom?
  
  Most gas stations are monitored with cameras (often times with facial recognition), so they will be able to see your face and license plate, then charge you with vandalism.
  
  In another thread someone said they carry a sharpie marker with them and label the button(s) you need to press to mute the audio for future people.

I avoid gas stations that have ads. There's a chain where I live that doesn't do them, so they get all my business.
- I do this too. Speedway and Shell play video ads on their pumps with no obvious mute options. I don't buy gas there.
- I wish I could do this. There are none left in my area and I’m not drilling and refining my own gas.
  
  good time to switch to organic, gluten-free, vegan, open source, self-hosted and family-grown biomass fuel
- Its always the one gas station that is a little run down and is the common place for violent crime

I wish advertisers would realize that forcing me to watch their ad against my will makes me actively hostile against their brand and/or product. If I remember their brand name from an intrusive ad I will not only not buy their products, I will go out of my way to give my money to their competitors.
- Advertising is among the most studied psychological phenomenoms in the world. It's not so much about getting you to buy their product but more about you remembering the brand. Ads work. That why they're everywhere.
  Sure I can name several brands that I'm not buying from either because of their ads.. ..but I remember the brands.
  
  Whenever someone brings this up, someone also brings up the fact that ads are proven to work in general not on everyone. So I guess it's my turn today.
  
  I likely wouldn't buy a diamond ring but I most certainly not buy one from a certain diamond store that has fucking annoying ads. They know who they are and if you are in Lower Mainland of BC, you know who I'm talking about. They can blow and choke on a red hot cock shaped metal rod. I'm glad I moved so far north that I won't get any ads for them ever again.
  
  I've also cone to realize that this is the real purpose of ads.
  Mostly_Gristle@lemmy.world, you have the right idea, but the other key thing you should remember is to never talk about the corps to anyone, even if you're dragging their name through the mud. "No such thing as bad press," as they say.
  It's good to denounce the practice, but it seems naming and shaming specific companies just doesn't work anymore at this stage.

Second button down on the right side of the screen, press it (up to) 4 times and it mutes that shit
- Since we are sharing...
  Holding down 1-5-9 or 3-5-7 can drop a POS card reader into debug mode, but it's brand dependent. (I have had it also crash the host terminals in some cases as well.)
  
  also want to say that this is illegal in most places. The store may or may not press charges, but they have the right to and they will win that case if they do. So only do it if you know you can get away with it or have permission or don't mind having the stain on your legal record and whatever fine they hit you with
  
  Because why just hack it as much as you need to when you can go all the way? AMIRITE?
- Ohhh maybe it's the multiple presses that are needed
  
  I was just pressing every button once without success.
- stopped working for me like 2 years ago
- I’ve read that, but it’s never worked for me

Most of them the second button down on the right is mute, though I've been running into some recently that disabled the mute.
Anyway, I sharpie a "mute" next to the button on stations where it isn't labeled for other people. It's one bit of graffiti that I'm not at all conflicted about.
- This never works for me at any brand gas station. I try it every time.
  
  I've had the exact opposite experience. Only once has the second button down from the right not worked. But in that instance it was the bottom right button.

- The version of Neuralink we can afford will be ad supported.
  
  Only at first.
  Then every version will be ad-supported.
  
  I'll just wait until Neuralink gets ReVanced.
- The brain implant will be more like "adplus" of it ever catches on. I guarantee it.
- I mean... It's Las Vegas. You don't go to Vegas expecting a vacation experience free from the perverse corruption of money.

Wow, in Europe we haven't reached that gas station modernization stage yet.
- Hopefully Europe goes the other way and gets rid of cars before petrol stations modernize. Fuck cars.

I avoid those stations i know have ads, and if surprised... i'm happy to know of the hidden mute button.
- Me too. I let my $$ speak for me.
  
  Your money is the squeak of a mouse against the thunderclap of advertising money.
  If they lose a couple weirdos like us but get to sell eyeballs, they'll do it.
- Sadly, it doesn't always seem to exist.
  
  In that case I reward the one that did the thing last.
  For instance, when Safeway removed my ability to mute the self checkout instructions, I stopped shopping there and only went to King Soopers.
  KS decided to also remove the mute option, but I’m still loyal to them because fuck Safeway for moving first on that.

I'm just going to leave this here.
- I was really hoping this was for fuel pumps, but the bus stop ads are great, too.
- A gentleman and a scholar

Late-stage capitalism means this bullshit will keep creeping into every facet of life. I hate it.

One of my most upvoted comments on here is saying I should be legally allowed to smash those screens if they play ads.
I don't need advertisements shoved in my face every second of every day.
- Except you're a slave in the capitalistic machine like the rest of us so fuck you. /s
- Yes, that would be nice if it were legal, but its not.
  
  Tell that to my mask and hammer

Maybe we need a need OSM tag
- OpenStreetMap?
  
  Yes
- This

just the US speedrunning a dystopic world

We need to start a movement to show people different ways to vandalize them without being caught, and print stickers to stick on them to show the reasoning behind the vandalosm
- Finally a good use of the "I did that" Biden stickers.
  
  lol!
- Even better:
  Start a movement to build robust cycling infrastructure.
  
  They'll start putting ads in the bike lanes
  
  A few more people would probably use bikes, but I don't see how this solves the issue, no matter how good the cycling infrastructure we won't see cars and gas stations just disappear. I suspect I don't see the goals as you intend them, but I don't see people dropping there kids off at school on bikes or biking to and from a restaurant to eat a steak dinner, not to mention city services and transportation. If your target is really emissions I'd suspect that electric cars and limiting private jets would make more progress.
- There is some artist who uses this kind of “road sticker” that is damn near impossible to remove. All that artist does is put a little sticker down of a stylized humanoid form, but that sticker on a fuel pump would probably withstand weather and attempts to remove it.
  
  Any more info would be appreciated

Come live in NJ. No ads!

Get an EV and you’ll never have to go to a gas station again. None of the chargers I’ve seen have ads on them.
- Still early in the enshittification cycle. It'll happen eventually.
- All of the chargers I've seen have ads on them.
  
  Maybe public ones but the good thing about electric is you plug in and either walk away or sit in your car you don't need to be outside near the pump to charge.
  
  I don't even have an EV and I have to see the ads on the chargers because they're in front of the store I'm walking into. So far, I've only noticed that at grocery stores, but it's annoying.
- They target the most common denominator. Once EVs are everywhere, look at the chargers getting filled with ads.
  
  Maybe, but I don't think it's worth it. With a gas car, you stand idle at the pump for a few minutes making sure that nothing bursts into flames or gas doesn't overflow. Charging an EV isn't like that. They've got about 5 seconds of your time at the most.
- Not great for privacy or freedom though

I have never seen any ads in gas pump over here. But at the equivalent of 8$ per gallon, there is no need.

This drives me nuts too. Who the hell decided to do this? I avoid the stations with ads.

If the mute button doesn't work I just go to other stations next time. Some of the gas stations around here have gotten rid of the ads.
- The ones I frequent have silenced the ads or gotten rid of them altogether.
  Seems like they are still loud and shitty in more rural areas where there is less choice that I've been to in the last couple of years.
  
  I'm assuming least some of the ad revenue would go to the station owner. But I bet it often turns out to be less money than they had expected.

I would probably bring a really thick permanent marker with me and some chewing gum for the speakers. I'm lucky enough to live in an area that has pretty good cycling infrastructure so I don't have to deal with that shit. I'm sorry you do though.

The majority of pumps in my area play ads. Some of the pumps can't be muted. For those, press the top left and right buttons, then next two down, then the next two and it throws it into maintenance mode. That shuts off the speaker.

Bro, what is going on in the USA 😅 You guys better hope Neuralink fails otherwise there'll be ads right in your craniums.
- Yeah, but if you don't get a neuralink, you don't have the advantage everyone else does
  
  Fuck it. I don't want such "advantages" anymore. I want a small house, a workshop, and a garden. I'll be lucky if I can get even that. The world can just go pass me by.
  
  AdVantage
  See everything through a lens … of ads!

Why do companies even buy ads in this space? There's so many spots in our society where ads are just being injected to play for nobody. At what point do they figure out that it's not worth the return on investment to put ads in those spots?
- It is pennies for them
- They don’t have to work, you just have to convince people they do.
  Sell the gas station operator on increased revenue (whether they ever see increased revenue from it or not is irrelevant — I would assume they are unlikely to stop once they have ad pumps in). They might not opt for ad pumps next time, but that’s a problem for future you.
  Sell businesses on thousands of people staring at these pumps every day.
  All parties are now invested in this ecosystem, and it’ll be a while before they determine whether or not it’s worth the money — or even having an effect.

For the pumps that the mute button doesn't work: carry a small screwdriver, 1/8", flat blade, insert into center of speaker then pull sideways to severe the coil wire.
- Great idea, it’s not like every single gas station is riddled with cameras and you have a license plate they can track you with or anything….
  
  Tired of ads at the gas station? Carry a lighter
  
  They too will get the screwdriver treatment!
  
  It doesn't effect the operation of the pump and takes a three second poke and twist. With no legitimate use of the speaker it would be months before it is noticed. Think they would scrub through tens of thousands of interactions with the pump and find that one person who leaned in a bit? Doubtful, and if so, minor vandalism charge and a small fine for months of quiet peace. Worth it in my book.
- Or just go to a different gas station instead of vandalizing property that's not yours.

Is this a thing in Canada yet? Thankfully have never seen it here.
- I haven't encountered it. Maybe we're lucky and some law prevents it? I find it hard to believe they wouldn't exploit us further if there wasn't something stopping them.
- Shell's had them for a while out in Alberta.

I want to brainstorm this. I know about the mute button, but it doesn't work on all pumps. So, how are the pumps getting the ads (getting updated ads)? Are they connected to the internet? Bluetooth? Flash Drive firmware updates?
When we figure this out, the next step is to hack that source.
- A quick search for trying to get an ad onto a pump led to this site. Pumps are not all the same, some are uploaded via wired or wireless network. Some via USB. If you want to be a solution, try to be the problem and then work your way backwards.
  https://www.lcdtvenclosure.com/affordable-gas-station-digital-signage

I never saw these before I visited the US. While tanking somewhere in eastern Texas, on my way from Houston to a tiny town south of New Orleans.
My "fix" was waiting in the car with bluetooth buds in, while the pump did its thing. Holy hell those were annoying.

I have never experienced this. Where do you have ads at gas stations?
- The United States of America.
  Most of them anyway.
- When they have an LCD screen. I go to the one sketchy one down the road because the pumps are older

Covertly stab out the speakers.
They never asked for your consent to pollute your mind with invasive thoughts, jingles, etc. Don’t ask for theirs.

Strange things are in the US. The only good adblocker which ocurres me for this

I don't think I have ever been to a gas station with ads obnoxious enough to notice. If I start noticing them (ie extremely loud) I stop getting my gas there.

I sit in my car.
- You aren’t supposed to do that, assuming you’re the one pumping gas. Gas stations are a bad place to generate static electricity, lol.
  
  I forgot about the epidemic of gas station explosions due to people sitting in their cars.
  
  There was a whole Mythbusters episode where they tried TONS of stuff to get a gas station to go up in flames (they couldn't, not even smoking a cigarette -- under near ideal conditions for an ignition of nearby vapors -- per my recollection).
  So yeah, I'm sitting in my car (especially if it's cold outside).
  "Static electricity" isn't somehow more of a concern sitting in your car than standing outside one in a fuzzy jacket.
- I used to do that until the pump failed to realize the tank was full and just kept going.
  That's also why there are signs telling you specifically not to do that.
  
  We should make a law that any process which requires continuous attention for safety reasons cannot be a venue for advertisement.
  
  I just watch the filler from the side mirror. When I feel the click of the disengagement, I hop out, give a ground pat to the pump and replace the nozzle.

Thankfully only one near me does this and I've never gone back once I saw they had these installed. This is really the only way we're ever going to see these practices phased out. Corporations don't take anything seriously until it affects the bottom line. Just look at climate change.
- I think getting this practice phased out would require a sustained social media campaign. Otherwise the MBAs just see mysterious fluctuations on their charts, and they'll make up some vaguely-political theories about Millenials.

you can get fuel delivered to your house, install a few tanks, or straight to your vehicle
- Can I fill you up or wut?

Jokes on them, I start the pump and walk inside to get a drink/snack. By the time I get back I'm done pumping.
- thats what they want you to do...
- i love paying $5 for a small bag of combos that isnt as big as it used to be

Not only are they stupidly repetitive, they are loud. They do make me look for other stations. I've found I can mess with them sometimes using the home button, it can pause the marketing BS for a good minute.

good ad blocking practice = buy a bicycle
- I have two but I'm still seeing ads everywhere.

Come live in NJ. No ads!
- Because they pump your gas for you lol. Instead you get to be guilt tripped into tipping the worker who's only there to "create jobs".
  
  I tip them in the extreme conditions because I don't have to get out during the freezing snow, rain, or rare oppressive heat.
  Most people in NJ don't tip, BTW.

Every station I have gone to with them has had the mute button labeled or at least functional. If they didn't, I would never return.
The only time they are useful is when they offer a coupon for something I was already going to buy, but that happens so infrequently I'd rather have my attention back.
- The ones near me don't, but it's still there. Just push buttons till it's quiet. For mine, it's the fourth button.

Never knew this was a thing, that better not come over here.

id take the ads over the 20 questions it asks you before you can even select the fuel grade. and the button barely works so i have to press it 20 times

Opt out entirely. Get an electric car. Your gas pump is your garage and you start every day with a full tank.
- If only I had 80 grand lying around for a tesla...
  
  Tesla is a shit EV. There are other options. I've seen more and more Rivian's in my area lately.
  
  Wtf 80 grand I dont have that either.
  Model 3 and Y are like $35-50k or go used for less.
- Mr. fancypants with a garage over there. Meanwhile, ain't no public chargers for miles around here.

Holly. Didn't even know such a thing existed. They're taking ads everywhere

Just tried the "2nd button from the top" on both right and left at Wesco (Michigan) - didn't work.

If theres snow on the ground you should take a handful of it and stuff it in the speaker hole. Works great. Or take some hand sanitizer and squirt it in there.
- Or sound completely terrible forever.

Use a screwdriver. Those speakers are driven from somewhere. There's some way to do maintenance.

Damn, paying 4$ for a gallon, here in Europe the gallon is more than 7$.
- You just have to start invading countries for their oil.
  If you hurry you might be able to get part of Russia before the Ukrainian’s blow up all the refineries
- You mean your government isn't shoveling money into the already wealthy oil companies' coffers? What are they even investing in, then, human rights? Silly.

326 comments