There was some talk of there being TV screens on the new PATH trains. If this is the case, I might be arrested for vandalism. I mean, after I buy a baseball bat.
Tell me again how pissing on the glassware we’re about to use helps deter ubiquitous ads?
I think you’re right. It feels like an invasion of privacy, albeit in a public place - they’re invading my eyeballs with their highly-targeted, psychological warfare. That might not be completely logical, but I don’t like ads, and I wouldn’t miss it if all the ads I encounter every day just disappeared.
ETA: I like the idea of vandalizing the stern cops’ faces. I must grudgingly admit that I find that kind of hooliganism very entertaining.
I think I would start bringing a can of black spray paint into the bathroom with me.
Any thought that is your own, achieved through the workings of your own mind, may contain independent ideas that do not relate to the purchase and consumption of products. Apparently this is a BIG problem.
They have screens like this outside of a lot of subway stops, and they’ve actually started placing projected ads inside the stations. I think I’ve mellowed out over the years, but I think the odds of me defacing some of these omnipresent ads or reacting violently to some kind of advertising is growing.
Thanks to Cervaise for the Bill Hicks quote, by the way.
I think a lot of the reason that people are getting angry is that people feel that they are being made into a commodity buying robot. We live in a capitalistic society that in general has little regard for the simple enjoyment of life. We’re told that consumerism is the answer to happiness and we are evaluated by what we can afford to buy.
As such when people are bluntly reminded that their value as a human being is being summed up by their buying power, its almost a rejection of the sanctity of life.
Not me. I’d be far more impressed with goofy buck teeth and freckles.
I agree. My wife says," Why punish the help? Complain to the manager."
Though, so many day-to-day decisions in chain environments are no longer in the control of the so-called store manager, but in the hands of the DM (district manager) or even decided higher-up than that level.
My daughter briefly “managed” a chain clothing shop. Basically, she was the scapegoat for all of the micromanaging DM’s unpopular policies toward employees and customers alike. She also got to work longer hours than anyone else for less money per hour than her so-called underlings.
We should boycott offending chains, sending emails to corporate HQs telling them why we won’t eat in their places any more.
That’s a reasonable analysis of the situtation, but it is, after all, happening at a gas pump — the very symbol of consumerism in every way. I mean, if the guy said he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail, and they put video monitors with ads every half-mile, I could understand the surprise. But while you’re pumping out the most profit-rich and inter-dependent commodity on earth, you’re already in the groove. And there are probably already a dozen ads all around you, even if it’s an old isolated station in the middle of Arizona.
The Chevron station by my house has these but they run full MSNBC programming… it’s no surprise, it’s also about 3 blocks from the Microsoft corporate campus. I’m sure MS has something to do with that. LOL. I’ve only seen them one other place though, and that pump was running full CNN programming.
Bottled water?
Someday soon, the technology to produce LCD or LED video panels will get to the point that they can be produced almost like a roll of paper and will be very cheap. When this day comes, so will the “Bladerunner” style of advertising - moving pictures coming from all directions - the sides of buildings, storefronts, sides of buses and taxis - everywhere you look will be huge video billboards. And what isn’t huge screens will be small ones on every surface you happen to look at.
Only a matter of time.
I think that’s definitely part of it; I’ve stopped donating to a local homeless charity because they wouldn’t stop marketing to me, after I explicitly asked them to. I didn’t appreciate being treated like a walking wallet.
Not to mention that the “free” TV they show is about 95% ads. You don’t have to listen to it, at least, but it’s still distracting. That’s one more thing I like about Southwest - no TV monitors.
Actually Liberal I thought the same thing at first. I mean, its a gas station, not a church.
Which “free TV” are you describing? JetBlue shows various cable channels, so you would see the exact same number of commercials as you would see at home in front of your set. Or do you mean the American Airlines “CBS Eye on American” programming that includes a few sitcom episodes, a news segment and a bunch of commercials?
United shows a “program” which looks like editorial content but which is actually a plug for a resort partner. Maybe I was flying when the new TV season started, but most of the content was plugs for the new shows. I’ve never flown Jet Blue, but my kids are, and that is indeed better. Personal tvs - which you can turn off - are fine with me.
I fly mostly what my company has chosen as the number one airline. American used to be it, and it seemed a little bit better, but I haven’t flown them for a while.
I personally wasn’t talking about the TVs on planes, I saw large, brightly colored, obnoxious stickers on the seats and trays. Even trying to read a book or playing with a two year old I still saw them. I even know the company, but I’m not saying so they don’t get any more advertising.
In the near future you will have to pay for the premium upgrade to avoid the ad section on the plane. This will be a step up from first class, and cost more than an upgrade from passenger to first class.