My uncle tried to sell me on a VPN at Thanksgiving dinner and it got awkward fast

So we're all sitting around the table in Phoenix last November, passing the stuffing, and my uncle Frank starts going off about how his neighbor's wifi got hacked and someone stole his credit card info. He looks right at me and says "You're online all day, Sam, you gotta get NordVPN before they track you too." I was like, okay, but then he starts name-dropping all these stats about data brokers in California and how his phone listens to him for ads. I tried to explain that a VPN isn't a magic shield for everything, you know, like it won't stop cookies or browser fingerprinting. He just waved me off and said I was being naive. It stuck with me because he meant well but he was parroting stuff from a YouTube ad. Has anyone else had a relative try to lecture you on privacy tech based on one article they skimmed?

2 comments

2 Comments

gibson.morgan7h ago

The real question is why he thinks NordVPN needs a celebrity spokesperson that bad.

west.casey2h ago

Oh man, come on @gibson.morgan, I see this all the time and it cracks me up. People act like a VPN ad is some deep conspiracy when really it's just a company throwing money at a celebrity because someone in marketing thinks it'll work. You ever actually watch a NordVPN commercial? It's not exactly Shakespeare, it's just a dude in a hat saying "get this so hackers don't steal your dog pics" or whatever. Like, is this really worth getting worked up over? There are way bigger things to question in this world than why some VPN paid a guy to make a goofy ad. I swear, sometimes this place treats a 30-second spot like it's a Supreme Court hearing.