There are many people who have a vested interested in limiting access to imagery. I have no such doubts about my next point however. Without parallel, the major concern is the sheer quantity of visual imagery that our students are encountering. Advertising in the media, on billboards, on-line is everywhere. Cultural symbols and icons are portrayed and betrayed.
Image is everything.
The commercial viability of this inundation must be working on consumers or it wouldn't happen. These images cost in terms of human time and energy. They use major resources, both technical and personal. In other words, they cost money. Correspondingly then, one assumes that there is a profit from all of this or the floodwaters would be receding by now.