Insidious
Do you remember when they first started putting ads on shopping carts in the grocery store? Remember thinking at that time that it seemed like advertising was starting to be on everything? I was thinking about this yesterday and I realized that at this point that seems almost innocent.
Because after there were ads on shopping carts there started to be ads on the floor, and hanging from the ceiling. And then there were ads printed on your receipt. And then they stuck a color screen up next to the checkout line that flashed ads at you. Then they replaced it with a television that played a constant cycle of video ads and promotional "talk" bits with sound, right in your ear and at eye level. They put them up in the produce department too, with little segments on how to properly slice an avocado, so you'd view it as informative and watch the ads.
The same thing happened at gas stations. First they had the paper ads posted up on top of the pumps. Then they got the screens that showed ad pictures. Yesterday I went to buy gas and there was a television screen on the pump playing ads at high volume right at my head. They made sure to plug in regular flashes of "Pirates of the Caribbean" so I wouldn't tune it out.
Ads in the mailbox. Ads on my cellphone. Ads in my email. Ads on my receipt. Ads on the bag they put my stuff in. Ads on the side of people's cars. Ads on television screens everywhere I look. Giant telivision screens where there used to be billboards, now flashing full color motion ads everywhere I go.
Now I hear about a marketing movement called "word of mouth" advertising. People are getting paid by companies to mention products in everyday conversation, because the industry has figured out that people trust each other far more than anything they see in an ad. So the new move is to mask ads as genuine conversation between human beings. In part this isn't new, there have been paid shills sent out to create "buzz" since the days of PT Barnum. But there is something more insidious about this. It isn't just shills talking about a product in public where others will overhear them. It's individuals getting paid to turn conversations with the people in their lives into advertisements. Product placement brought into the real world, right into your social life. The FTC says that this is covered under existing regulations that require paid advertising to be disclosed as such, meaning that "sponsored consumers" are supposed to tell people when a recommendation they make is based on being paid by the company. But you tell me, in what way that could ever be enforced?
The advertising industry has found a way to insert itself into our very relationships. Advertising will no longer require a physical means of delivery - a poster, radio, television, computer. It can follow you anywhere you ever go and come from anyone you know. Anyone you talk to could be viewing you as a receptacle for viral marketing. I know this will sound alarmist to some people, but it really seems to me like some final barrier is being crossed into territory we thought was personal and private. I mean, I don't think any of my friends would market something to me in this way, but the more prevalent this becomes, the harder it will be for people to trust each other. Where will we find immediatism when even our moments with each other as human beings can be bought and sold by an outsider?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/11/AR2006121101389.html
Because after there were ads on shopping carts there started to be ads on the floor, and hanging from the ceiling. And then there were ads printed on your receipt. And then they stuck a color screen up next to the checkout line that flashed ads at you. Then they replaced it with a television that played a constant cycle of video ads and promotional "talk" bits with sound, right in your ear and at eye level. They put them up in the produce department too, with little segments on how to properly slice an avocado, so you'd view it as informative and watch the ads.
The same thing happened at gas stations. First they had the paper ads posted up on top of the pumps. Then they got the screens that showed ad pictures. Yesterday I went to buy gas and there was a television screen on the pump playing ads at high volume right at my head. They made sure to plug in regular flashes of "Pirates of the Caribbean" so I wouldn't tune it out.
Ads in the mailbox. Ads on my cellphone. Ads in my email. Ads on my receipt. Ads on the bag they put my stuff in. Ads on the side of people's cars. Ads on television screens everywhere I look. Giant telivision screens where there used to be billboards, now flashing full color motion ads everywhere I go.
Now I hear about a marketing movement called "word of mouth" advertising. People are getting paid by companies to mention products in everyday conversation, because the industry has figured out that people trust each other far more than anything they see in an ad. So the new move is to mask ads as genuine conversation between human beings. In part this isn't new, there have been paid shills sent out to create "buzz" since the days of PT Barnum. But there is something more insidious about this. It isn't just shills talking about a product in public where others will overhear them. It's individuals getting paid to turn conversations with the people in their lives into advertisements. Product placement brought into the real world, right into your social life. The FTC says that this is covered under existing regulations that require paid advertising to be disclosed as such, meaning that "sponsored consumers" are supposed to tell people when a recommendation they make is based on being paid by the company. But you tell me, in what way that could ever be enforced?
The advertising industry has found a way to insert itself into our very relationships. Advertising will no longer require a physical means of delivery - a poster, radio, television, computer. It can follow you anywhere you ever go and come from anyone you know. Anyone you talk to could be viewing you as a receptacle for viral marketing. I know this will sound alarmist to some people, but it really seems to me like some final barrier is being crossed into territory we thought was personal and private. I mean, I don't think any of my friends would market something to me in this way, but the more prevalent this becomes, the harder it will be for people to trust each other. Where will we find immediatism when even our moments with each other as human beings can be bought and sold by an outsider?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/11/AR2006121101389.html