Re: Being honest about data-collection isn't an option anymore is it ?
"only to send out their GDPR email and receive a flurry of unsubscribe requests instead."
If they don't have your explicit consent already, then you don't NEED to send an unsubscribe.
This makes law what was ASA policy anyway - and the reason it's been made law is because industry self-regulation (and the ASA as self-proclaimed "regulator") has utterly failed.