Those in marketing are not always dishonest, but they do deal in distraction and the delivery of sleek performances, which often mask a lack of substance.

They bring enthusiasm without sincerity, confidence without credibility, and engage in the quiet art of appearing useful, even when they are offering nothing of real value.

They all engage in curating a carefully scripted voice that asks for your attention, urgency and trust, without earning any of it.

It is the dressing of weak ideas, products and services in strong words, which is precisely why so many of us feel dissatisfied by the things we purchase.

This culture of persuasion teaches businesses to behave like people. That is, with charm, wit and self-awareness, so that they might avoid the hard work of actually making something worthwhile.

Workshops are held, brands developed, and mission statements declared.

And yet the result, so often, is more noise, delivered in a beautiful package that envelopes a great deal of nothing.

Because when the product is bad, no message can save it. But when the product is good, there is no need for a message at all.

Surely those in marketing have known this for a long time.

They fill our feeds, screens and inboxes with the language of urgency—free trial, limited time only, risk-free—teaching us to want things we don’t need, and to need things we can’t afford.

It works not by informing us, but by overwhelming us.

As David Graeber noted, these people are goons. That is, they work in a bullshit job that has no reason to exist, but does, because everyone else is doing it. Much like the reason for having an army, you have a marketing campaign because your competitors have one.

I have some firsthand experience of this phenomenon. I was once told that the only reason a company hired me as their Marketing Manager was because all their competitors were hiring marketing people. My role existed, it appeared, for no other reason than that everyone else was doing it.

Under such conditions, you are not selling products or services, but perception, and you are rewarded for making the unnecessary seem essential.

So, if marketers were to disappear tomorrow, the world would likely be better, not worse, because truly good things do not need selling; they speak for themselves.

It is only when something lacks value that we must create value around it, justify its existence, or defend its purpose.

And this is what those in marketing so often do: they service the illusion, not the public.

There is danger in this deception and the energy consumed for its maintenance. In adding fuel to the fire, so that we might maintain the appearance of worth, we deny ourselves the ability to create something worthy.