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Advertising (was Re: you're priceless)
Gee, Don, feel a little strongly about this? LOL
I'm kidding, of course, and, at least in my case, you're preaching to the
converted. :)
I'm with ya; from the TV-abandonment to the cell phone rather than land line
use... and I'm occasionally equally paranoid (too much futuristic sci-fi
reading!) about the potential uses of databases for tracking and the
subsequent privacy issues... even if no one robs your house, what business is
it of theirs where you go on vacation? (They tracked the movements of woman
in NY who mysteriously had anthrax by her Metro card and her cell phone
calls... *that* was scary enough and had nothing to do with marketing,
really.)
Anyway, back on topic, it reminds me of Switters in Tom Robbins' _Fierce
Invalids Home From Hot Climates_ who, when Suzy demands "Tell me something
about yourself," replies: "The more advertising I see, the less I want to
buy."
Of course, that's a fairly human concept, no? Only a few marketers have
caught onto the idea that the only even halfway novel idea out there is not
to tell much about the product at all, and entice people that way: Did you
catch the 'mlife' commercials during the SuperBowl?
Advertising is not evil, even identifying markets is not evil... it's part of
our capitalist culture, and doing away with it would destroy the economy...
we rely on the nodding sheep to obey the ads and keep our country afloat.
I agree with you that it's the potential for misuse that is worrisome... but
I have one other complaint... as a designer, I object to how much truly
abysmal design is out there in advertising these days... if we're going to
be surrounded by the stuff, couldn't we make a slightly better attempt at
making it attractive?!
Oh.. and one other thing... anyone been subjected to a commercial on an ATM
machine while waiting for their money?! AGGH!
Anita
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