Feed the hungry or feed political ads?

[Angrboda]

I'm confused about the question. Are you asking about food vs ads specifically, or more generally about priorities. Toward the latter, we should pursue priorities on a democratic basis so long as they don't directly conflict. As to the former, the original goal of advertising was to help create an informed electorate who would then elect leaders who wisely and efficiently implemented the public's priorities. Admittedly it has in some sense failed, but one shouldn't judge a philosophy by its abuse. An informed electorate is important, if for no other reason than that the hungry are less likely to be fed by leaders who are responding to less rational impulses of the electorate.