What the fuck is going on with these ads on the SDMB?

The BBQ Pit
1

Okay… I really should have used screen captures to document this, but…

A few days ago brianjedi started a thread, Who’s on your school’s all-time basketball team? Great thread, I dropped in, gave my list, and as I looked at the bottom of the page I noticed three ads - one for African ringtones (?), one for celebrating African-American history, and one on how to reach African-Americans through marketing. Nothing in the thread mentioned race, Africans, or African-Americans. It was just about basketball…

Then today as I’m on page 2 of roger thornhill’s thread, How much does white guilt still affect the race debate and race relations in the US?, there are three ads for Kentucky Fried Chicken. [Stewie Griffin]What the deuce?[/SG]

Has anyone else noticed the bizarre behavior of the ad bot? I just think it’s a little strange that when basketball is mentioned, it thinks ads for marketing towards African Americans is a good match… and when we’re talking about race (specifically African Americans and racism), it drops a KFC ads down there…

2

Basketball is probably the most popular sport among black people in the US. Why shouldn’t they target that demographic for that subject?

3

I’m so sick of these threads about vanity phone numbers and harassing phone calls.

4

I know this is horrible to say, but that bit about the KFC ads made me giggle.

5

Feh. It’s the ones that advertise services for such garbage as psychic readings and what-have-you that bug the hell outta me. Crap like that is contra Cecil’s motto and just plain shouldn’t be here.

6

Amen.

7

:confused:

Is Cecil the Undercover White Man?

8

I wonder if there are any services out there that offer humor workshops?

9

The stupid Google ads don’t even know we’re talking about them!!

10

Oh, see, it’s because black people like fried chicken.

Bet you when you look again it’ll be advertising watermelon. Or grape soda.

(In the words of a black professor I had, “Of course black people love fried chicken. Everybody loves fried chicken!”)

11

Yes they do! Now they’re shilling African-American Hair, Multicultural Marketing, and Black Singles photos.

One man’s targeted marketing is another’s stereotyping.

Given the link to KFC, I’m now wondering what would happen in a thread discussing watermelons . . . Will a thread talking about potatoes generate ads targeted to Irish-Americans, or one on olive oil ones for Italian-Americans? :slight_smile:

12

LOL, OK, you win! :smiley:

Me, I’d like to Take Back Congress, but I can’t find where it went.

13

That seems a bit ironic to me.

Oh, yeah. Insert the obligatory sneering “Ads? What ads? I use an adblocker!” note here.

14

And I’d like to donate to Katrina Hurricane victims, but I have no idea how to do that either.

15

I edited my Hosts file so I don’t see the ads. I really, really regret not being able to participate in these humorous threads.

Oh wait. No I don’t. :slight_smile:

16

Those I can live with. The ones shilling for Creationist websites and merchandise are what make me see red.

17

How did you do it?

18

I gotta admit those would be worse. I just don’t recall seeing one of 'em. Guess maybe I haven’t been in any religion-type threads lately.

19

These ads are freaking annoying!

What were they thinking here? It’s like, “Yeah, ‘pictures’ doesn’t need an apostrophe, but ‘video’ is a pretty weird word, so we better use an apostrophe when we pluralize it. ‘videos’ without the apostrophe would just be too much of a mindfuck.” :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

20

Yeah but everybody knows black people go to Popeyes, not KFC. (at least according to the counter guy at Popeyes, ;))