this post was submitted on 29 Jul 2026
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A Boring Dystopia

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Seen at a cinema. You can watch yourself poop and the ads switch between being shown normally and mirrored to make sure you can read them while on the toilet.

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[–] mulcahey@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago

I think, after all this time, we have found the platonic ideal of A Boring Dystopia post. It does not get any better/worse than this

[–] OozingPositron@feddit.cl 2 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

What kind of Narcissus-ass mirror is that.

[–] VitoRobles@lemmy.today 61 points 1 day ago (5 children)

Oh yeah I'm breaking anything like that in a bathroom. And you should too.

Any digital device could come with a camera and microphones.

And best of all, there's no evidence of you breaking it without the owners admitting to filming/recording in a bathroom.

[–] Willy@sh.itjust.works 1 points 13 hours ago

A mic and camera you say? My audience would finally be bigger than just my unappreciative wife.

[–] partofthevoice@lemmy.zip 2 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

What do you think is in there? A network card, maybe 250mb ram, and the screen of course — roughly?

That’s got to be enough for at least 1000 simultaneous Dooms.

[–] 666dollarfootlong@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I'd just tape trash bags over the screen. Or maybe paint over it

[–] modus@lemmy.world 3 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

You carry paint to the cinema bathroom?

[–] Siethron@lemmy.world 1 points 19 hours ago

Never know what's going to need a spontaneous protest/mural

[–] Admetus@sopuli.xyz 12 points 1 day ago

You'd need to be in the restroom with at least one other occupant if the door to the restroom is being filmed.

[–] Waldelfe@feddit.org 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I don't live in this country, I'm only here for holidays, so I was a bit afraid of the consequences.

[–] crandlecan@mander.xyz 1 points 20 hours ago

bullets for you!!

[–] FreddiesLantern@leminal.space 1 points 13 hours ago

Last time I visited a cinema the toilet was plastered in AI slop advertisements.

Never mind that I'm already not buying whatever is being shoved in my face as I'm trying to take a leak. But does it have to be AI slop?! Really, you gotta remind me that you're killing the world economy and ecology for producing an authoritarian dystopian hellscape as I'm trying to take a piss?!!!

[–] sunsofold@lemmy.zip 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Businesses have enough trouble keeping people from vandalizing their toilets. I can't see this making it less likely or less expensive for them to repair.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 1 points 6 hours ago

They have cameras in the stalls to document any vandalism.

[–] BandanaBug@piefed.social 26 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Please list the cinema (chain) so I can never come there again.

[–] bountygiver@lemmy.ml 10 points 21 hours ago

The screen could literally be playing the movie based on your ticket so you miss less scenes if you had to go to a toilet and they waste the screen on this.

[–] Waldelfe@feddit.org 24 points 1 day ago

Kinepolis in the Netherlands

[–] 1984@lemmy.today 1 points 15 hours ago
[–] billwashere@lemmy.world 3 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Dystopian?!? Hell the door goes all the way to the floor. That looks awesome.

[–] Waldelfe@feddit.org 3 points 12 hours ago

Unfortunately I have to inform you that that is standard here in Europe and nothing noteworthy.

[–] DisasterTransport@startrek.website 15 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I would never do a property damage in a bathroom, but how would they be able to catch the person who did?

[–] HetareKing@piefed.social 1 points 14 hours ago

If there's a camera pointing at the entrance of the toilets, they could use the recorded footage along with the time that the screen lost its network connection to narrow down the suspects. Especially since, unless you're confident you can do something to this thing silently, you'd want to do it when nobody is around.

...I guess you could also blow raspberries to drown out the sound. You might get some sympathetic looks when you leave the stall, though.

[–] SchadeMarmelade@feddit.org 14 points 1 day ago

Man, I was thinking the same thing. I even dislike when people put their stickers in public places, let alone damage stuff. But that screen sure looks crackable.

[–] schmorpel@slrpnk.net 18 points 1 day ago (1 children)

A tempting surface for a toilet graffiti.

[–] Codpiece@feddit.uk 8 points 1 day ago

Are you referring to a dirty protest?

[–] mkwt@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago

Last time I saw an ad in a public restroom, it was for a DUI attorney. It seemed reasonable in a bar.

[–] sylver_dragon@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago

Seems like a perfect time and place to try hacking the display. Unlikely to be cameras, you're stuck there for a bit anyway, and nothing of value will be lost if you monumentally fuck up.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

I genuinely have to ask who this works on.

How many people walk into a restroom to take a big shit, discover they are trapped in a tiny room with a big ad machine, and decide "This is where I will be spending my money once I'm done dropping a fat turd".

More effective than any individual ad, I think a quarter feed that says "Turn off ads: $.50" would be more profitable long term.

[–] Damarus@feddit.org 19 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Ads work. This has been proven many, many times, and it's the reason why companies spend billions on ads. It's not something that happens right then and there, but they get everyone. You are not safe from ads, even if you think you're better than others. "Who does this work on?" is the wrong question. We should rather ask "How can we make it stop?".

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

Ads work.

Some ads work some of the time. A well-researched strategy for rolling out a messaging campaign can convince enough people to turn a profit on certain kinds of products within certain marketplaces.

Just throwing (literal) shit against a (literal) wall can easily cost more than it brings in. Marketing campaigns can - and often do - fail. Ad copy can net a negative ROI. The notion that advertisement is infallible is just as fallacious as the notion that "I'm too smart to be fooled".

“Who does this work on?” is the wrong question. We should rather ask “How can we make it stop?”.

I want it to stop because it's fucking annoying and invasive. But part of my strategy is to ask the hard questions like "Who is actually profiting from this installation?" And my money is on "the ad agency collecting money off the installation". Maybe the bar is getting some kind of nominal kickback, at least until the ad agency goes fly-by-night and the bar owner is left with the cost of removing the nussance.

We can make it stop by destroying the device

[–] orlyowl@piefed.ca 4 points 1 day ago

Yes but also that mirror positioning. The last thing I want to do while shitting is stare at myself shitting.

More like

Turn off ads: apply the Gerber Shard I keep on my keyring

[–] Mardukas@lemmy.world 1 points 22 hours ago

The cheaper solution would be to place the ad on the door? I feel like this is cheating in chess or whatever by putting a mirror in the ceiling. You see the same thing but are now the cost of a mirror poorer...

[–] chocrates@piefed.world 1 points 1 day ago

Moisten some toilet paper and cover the mirror. Or shit with the door open. I close it for yalls benefit anyway