Should a free society allow advertising?

if not, then you are not truly free. no society can claim freedom where rules exist.

"America stands for freedom, but if you think you're free, try walking into the deli, and urinating on the cheese!"

personally, i think that the Law of Cardamom said it best...

I am going to say a free society should allow advertising. At the philosophical level, citizens have agency in a free society. If clever advertising convinces them to choose a Chevy over a Ford-so be it. 

At the community level, advertising income is what keeps everything from newspapers to stock car races going. This is not just about the NFL or NASCAR, small towns need sponsors for their curling bonspiels, hydroplane regattas, minor league baseball, etc.

At the aesthetic level, commercial expression can become art-look at the people who collect old hoardings from Burma Shave, etc. Do people in a free society really want to by their pizza from Peoples Pizza Factory #6? 

Either it's allowed, or the society isn't free. I don't think it should be disallowed, but efforts should be made to expose misleading claims. Personally, the vast majority of advertising disgusts me. They tell outlandish lies and play on every human weakness: anything to make a buck. They're not trying to help you out; they're trying to help themselves. I think it would be awesome if everyone boycotted everything that's advertised. Instead of them wasting my time, if I need something, I can seek it out. 

benifets is not a word.

In a society full of free impediments, consumers seem to have to pay to get rid of it. If we have to provide excess resources due to free impediments, we need legal grounds, detection, and thorough actions.

I think that corporate activities should not interfere with personal activities.

They don't have to provide to abusers, but they do need a "national representative" as a consensus partner in the common area.

Free speech is one thing, and it is a good thing, but intentionally manipulating the way people think by using sophisticated but cynical methods is not necessarily "free" speech, and in fact prevents free thinking.  Like so many things, it's not about "all or none" but more about how and why.  The way it currently works, advertising is one of the most harmful facets of modern society because it severely limits the ability of people to think for themselves and that is an important facet of any democracy.  Freedom of speech versus the freedom to control others through intentional manipulation is a finely tuned balance but one that we don't even begin to address.  We more or less just let advertisers do whatever they want as long as they pay their taxes.  We need to do better if we want to preserve democracy.