[Paisleychick-lj] Taking Advertising Too Far

[Beatrice M's blog]

[![][1]][2]   
[Coca-Cola][3]   
Originally uploaded by [blmurch][4]. 

I remember seeing [Minority Report][5] and noticing how utterly pervasive and personalized the advertising was. Talking commercials recognized you based on your eye scans and suggested items based on your last purchases with that company as you walked by in the mall. We are not there yet, but our browsing and purchasing histories are in the cookies of our computers and the servers we visit. Amazon recommends things to me when i visit based on what I bought and looked at. Google News has a new option that I can get recommended stories based on my search history. [I turned that off][6] - thank you very much. DO NOT WANT.  
  
I was surprised to see [advertisements playing on flatscreens at gas pumps][7] when on our 2006 summer road trip. I've heard that the [GOP is trying (but thankfully failing)][8] to buy commercial space on those screens blaming the Democrats for the high gas prices. SMOOTH MOVE EXLAX. I know almost all politicians take money from lobbyists and so it's ridiculous to blame one party over another. Especially when the republicans are so much more in the pocket of BIG OIL. Gimmy a break.   
  
BUT - the REAL reason I'm ranting is because Kragen and I hopped in a taxi a week ago to get to Chinatown before they closed. The taxista pulled a black cloth hood off the passenger headrest and turned on the TV!!! We complained and he said that he could turn down the sound, but wouldn't turn off the propaganda. We put our shopping bag over the headrest and he got *very* upset. He said that it was a business. Kragen asked if it was legal and he said of course it was _"Por supuesto!"_ We complained some more and said that we were paying him a cab fare to take us somewhere - that is his business, not showing us advertising. He again refused to turn it off and we were left at an impasse. So, we got out of the taxi without paying him one single centavito. We took another taxi that didn't have a TV. This was the first and only instance of this happening and it scares me. Talk about false advertising - the TV was hidden from view from the outside. I don't want more and more taxis to assault me with propaganda like that. The future is now and it scares me. Do we need ["adblock"][9] in real life? How would that work?  


   [1]: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2298/1643900098_80402bb1a9_m.jpg
   [2]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/1643900098/ (photo sharing)
   [3]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/1643900098/
   [4]: http://www.flickr.com/people/blmurch/
   [5]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority_Report_(film)
   [6]: http://www.google.com/support/news/bin/answer.py?answer=40247
   [7]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/194351069/in/set-72157594206150385/
   [8]: http://www.twincities.com/allheadlines/ci_9085473?nclick_check=1
   [9]: http://adblockplus.org/en/

URL: http://paisleychick.livejournal.com/338339.html