> Were you paid to say it, with the intent of motivating said person, to buy a product?

For the waiter, this is probably true.

Then illegal. Simple. And I like it tbh

Presumably they can't have a menu either? The menu might induce you to buy something.

You can always opt-in. Advertising is specifically information that is not requested.

You are implicitly requesting it in exchange for free content, is that not obvious?

On a billboard while driving to work?

If I don’t ask for a menu don’t give me a menu.

Think for a moment about what kind of horrible totalitarian system you'd need to be living in for it to be able to jail a waiter just for making a product recommendation. Given the current US administration, how could anyone in their right mind think it's a good idea to give the government that kind of power?

Who said the punishment would be imprisonment? Fine the waiter $5 for every violation. Such a small fine will be orders of magnitude higher than what advertisers pay.

What happens if he doesn't pay the fine? He goes to jail. All laws are enforced with the threat of jail, otherwise nobody would follow them. So not only do you need an all-pervasive surveillance system to identify when a waiter tries to market something, but also a justice system with the power to jail him for doing so.

You’re right! Luckily everyone on HN works in the IT basement, so they can stay blissfully ignorant about how their company ever makes any money from the exquisite code they’re writing…

So we exempt waiters. No one seriously thinks waiters are what the article is about.