Home » Archives » September 2007 » Is There No Surface That Can't Be Whored Out?
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09/19/2007: "Is There No Surface That Can't Be Whored Out?"
I understand that in our money-conscious, free-enterprise system, advertising drives the revenue streams of much of society - including this website. But sometimes, you gotta wonder if it's all going too far.
I recall a couple of months back looking up at the Metro Green Line trains that pass by my parking lot at work and realizing that the cars were now blanketed with McDonalds ads. I remember earlier this summer attending the AVP Hermosa Open and marvelling that the players - whose uniforms have less surface area than the screen on my laptop - were wearing advertising temporary tattoos (nothing quite as sexy as a woman with an advert for Hilton Garden Inns on her bicep ...). Now, it appears that the media folks have one more surface to cover with advertising - parking lot stall lines:
"It's brilliant!" said Debbie Wideroe, professor of communications at Pepperdine University. "It's clever because you have to cut through the clutter and a parking stripe is a clean slate."
The genius, Wideroe said, is that consumers have become immune to traditional advertising on everything from bus billboards and benches to gas pumps and shopping carts.
"It's capturing your attention in an innovative way," she said. "I think it's really aligned with the target audience."
Wonderful ... and it's gonna get worse:
Glow-in-the-dark tape is in the future, as are tiny embedded computer chips.
"You get out of your car and see the words `Harley-Davidson,' and you hear a motorcycle roar," she said.
Remember "Blade Runner" and how all of Los Angeles was basically one big advertisement? Doesn't sound so far off now, does it ...
