Why are the Fiverr Ads So Annoying?

In Manhattan, I hopped on a train from Bowling Green to Union Square, transferring to the L train to Williamsburg on an errand. After making my transfer, I sat down and looked up. The entire train was covered in ads for Fiverr.com, “a marketplace for freelance services”.

Usually with an up close black & white portrait of a determined, 24–35 year-old artist type, the ads come with a bold statement in matching bold type and color, something like: “Do First, Ask Forgiveness Later” or “Actually, It Hasn’t All Been Done Before.” My personal favorite is: “You Eat A Coffee For Lunch. You Follow Through On Your Follow Through. Sleep Deprivation Is Your Drug Of Choice. You Might Be A Doer.” Followed by the campaign’s tagline, “In Doers We Trust”.

Since I am in New York City, I initially gave a careless shrug, allowing the ads to blend in with all the others that are made for me. However, because there were so many of them, I quickly saw a pattern. The ads were suggesting that it is okay to step on and over people to get what you want, that it is okay and, in fact, honorable to work yourself to death, and finally that questioning either of the other two things makes you into some kind of square. In the name of doing, the act of thinking is a time sink. Who actually believes this? A better question: who actually wants to eat a coffee for lunch?