No one is ever to blame for anything in economics. The ad industry isn’t a person or thing with any ethics bound to it. It’s just a creation of the market. You may as well try blaming the air for being responsible for tornados.

The only solution is to try to build a new system that can’t be abused.

I mean, a market exists for illicit drugs, underage sexual services and straight up slavery.

I think there is something to be said of the ethics of participating in some markets.

It's not much like a shovel, as it's fundamentally a means of deception.

Deception only has legitimate purposes insofar as "the ends justify the means," and they never do in this instance.