|
© All columns copyrighted
Columns must not be
reprinted in any form without the author's express permission.
An
Atom/RSS-compatible feed for your news reader is available
here
 |
|
Melvin's blog
Nshima & Curry
Melvin's Blog
Nshima & Curry
| |
SOME ADVERTISEMENTS NEED TO GO AWAY
If you’re driving down the highway and see
a moving billboard, don’t worry. You’re not
drunk. You’re just seeing the newest
strategy for advertisers to keep us
drowning in commercial messages. Yes,
they’re not satisfied with television, radio
and newspaper ads, they’re not satisfied
with telemarketing and junk mail, they’re
not satisfied with putting their names on
sports stadiums and their logos all over
Tiger Woods. They won’t be satisfied until
we’re living on Budweiser Street, getting
treatment at Dr. Pepper Hospital, and
worshiping at St. Pauli Girl Cathedral.
Two California companies are covering
cars with digitally-printed adhesive vinyl
wrap, displaying advertisements that reach
more people than billboards. They
apparently think America needs more
reasons for road rage.
Don’t be surprised if you hear a news
report like this: "Ten people were injured
yesterday in a three-car pileup that caused
a six-hour traffic jam on Nike Highway.
Police blamed the accident on an
argument between John Smith, driving a
Pepsi car, and Ron Davis, driving a
Coke car. According to witnesses, the
argument began when Smith passed
Davis and yelled, ‘Coke belongs in second
place.’ Davis then passed Smith and
yelled, ‘Al Gore drinks Pepsi.’ The two
drivers exchanged insults and obscene
gestures, until they ran into David Martin,
driving a ‘Got milk?’ car. Martin was soon
answering another question: Got health
insurance?"
The California companies, Autowraps Inc.
of San Francisco and FreeCar Media of
Los Angeles, are paying motorists as
much as $400 a month to wrap their cars
with ads. In addition, FreeCar Media of
Los Angeles gives selected drivers a free
wrapped car for two years. As you can
imagine, there’s no shortage of people
willing to drive around in ugly cars. Many
do so anyway. For a little bit of cash or
even just free gas, many would be willing to
drive a car wrapped in toilet paper. A
moving ad for Charmin.
"A billboard is stationary," Larry Butler,
co-founder of FreeCar, told USA Today.
"You have to drive by it to see it. A
wrapped car comes to you." That’s what
I’m afraid of. I have enough ads coming to
me. Junk mail comes to me, spam comes
to me and those annoying telemarketing
calls come to me.
When I’m on the highway, the only thing I
want coming to me is the next restroom. If
one of the presidential candidates
promised to do something about ads
coming to us, a few of those "undecided"
voters may actually make a decision.
Advertising is creeping into every area of
our lives. You can’t go to the beach without
seeing a plane pulling a banner. You can’t
watch a movie on video without seeing ads
for other movies. You can’t visit a public
restroom without seeing numbers on the
wall.
Some companies are even advertising on
human beings -- and I’m not talking about
printed T-shirts. This summer, Disney
handed out temporary tattoos plugging its
film "Coyote Ugly." It won’t be long before
companies pay for permanent tattoos in
prime spots, such as Jennifer Lopez’
midriff, Michael Jordan’s bald head and
Jay Leno’s chin. I’m sure Nike is dying to
place its logo on Tiger Woods’ forehead.
And for another $100 million, Tiger would
probably agree.
|
