I went to a retrospective of an old comedian the other day, and he talked about a book he released in 1984 with a little backstory as to why he and his friend wrote it. He then read a couple of segments of it which were hilarious. Then he put the book away and carried on.

My partner and I both thought we should buy the book after, so we looked it up. Turns out the 1984 copies are collectors items. So the only way to get his book was on his website, where a new edition of the book had been released, for new-book price.

It was then I realised he'd essentially done a covert advert. I didn't mind, because the excerpts he read had me rolling, but also I felt much more likely to buy it because he didn't say 'buy my new book, it's got X and y and X and it's for the very reasonable price of XX.99!!!'

I hate being advertised to, is my point, I guess. Especially when it's flashy bullshit. Just show me what is.