the power of advertising
Dec. 27th, 2002 05:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
egypturnashA few months back, something new appeared at Ralph's: flat-panel screens on posts next to the cash registers, endlessly playing soft-pedaled advertisements at the lines. Even when the lanes were empty and only one register was open, all the screens were on, dispensing their ads in synchronization.
This is, of course, in addition to the 'in-store radio' - the new name for what used to be called 'muzak', now that they slip commercials for products into the stream of tepid top forty stuff from the previous few decades.
The first thing I did upon seeing these things was to poke at the buttons on the base of the screen. No luck - they seemed disconnected; the screen kept blaring away. Looking at the back revealed that the thing's fairly well armored; any obviously visible plugs and connectors were covered in bolted-on armor. There was the obvious vulnerable point of a cable that was naked for a few inches, where there's a swivel joint to allow for perfect aiming of the screen, but taking a pair of bolt-cutters to it would be a bit too obvious, and too likely to result in legal action from the store.
A label on the back of each advertising spigot (as![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
prickvixen dubbed them soon after seeing them, when she visited a month or so after these first appeared) revealed that these were the brainchild of one 'Impli', and directed the curious to www.impli.com. I noted this, then promptly forgot about it. I grabbed a customer feedback form after paying for my stuff; on it, I politely described my distaste for these things, and noted my resolution never to purchase anything advertised on these screens (which has still held), and sent it in to Ralph's.
Over the weeks, these things continued to grate on me. I don't watch television, at all; I browse the web with Chimera, which has a pop-up disabler, and I also use Privoxy to avoid wasting bandwidth and my attention loading in ads. (Privoxy works on most OSs; for Windows, however, I recommend the Proximotron. Both are free.) I do see advertisements, of course; they're inescapable - but for the most part, all I see is still ads. Because of this, I notice intrusive advertisements.
So I started checking into just what options were available to me for shopping in walking distance. I'm quite willing to spend a little more time walking with my own thoughts in exchange for not having to actively ignore a stream of ads. Eventually, I realized that Trader Joe's was nigh-perfect: only a block and a half further from my apartment, lower prices on just about everything, and a general attitude that seems quite incompatible with ever doing something as blatantly money-grubbing as these Impli Things. And they even play music that you might not like instead of offensively-inoffensive treacle. I still go to Ralph's when I'm making supper at 3AM and realize I'm missing an ingredient, or when I need Diet Coke, since I still have the fizzy caffeine water habit - but Ralph's gets less and less of my money.
It's worth noting that the content of these screens has changed, too. Now it's more blatant advertising, with the occasional snippet of a public-domain cartoon no longer breaking it up. ABC has been advertising their fall lineup on it. The sad thing is that when I do things like growl and throw my jacket over the screen for some peace, other people in line actually say "Hey! I was watching that!" and become annoyed at me for interrupting their mindless ad-consumption. *sigh*
The last time I went to Ralph's, I took down the URL on the back of the screens and actually went to the Impli website. Their slogan is "connecting eye to i™". The whole thing drips marketroid soullessness. I won't try to describe it; go look for yourself - it's pretty small. The part that best sums the whole thing up is their 'media kit'; it takes great pains to be nigh-illegible on any browser but IE because of anally-precise layout.
Today, I decided to tell these folks how vile their 'unique technology platform' is. Fearing being put on spam lists, I started up a Yahoo! mail account with the ironic name of 'asatisfiedcustomer' and sent this to the first person listed on their contact page:
...followed, of course, by the inevitable ad for Yahoo as the signature.
More and more, our society comes to resemble the one described in Pohl and Kornbluth's SF novel 'The Space Merchants'. This is not a good thing. I sometimes find myself wondering if the increasing shrillness of advertising is a warning sign of the collapse of capitalism...
This is, of course, in addition to the 'in-store radio' - the new name for what used to be called 'muzak', now that they slip commercials for products into the stream of tepid top forty stuff from the previous few decades.
The first thing I did upon seeing these things was to poke at the buttons on the base of the screen. No luck - they seemed disconnected; the screen kept blaring away. Looking at the back revealed that the thing's fairly well armored; any obviously visible plugs and connectors were covered in bolted-on armor. There was the obvious vulnerable point of a cable that was naked for a few inches, where there's a swivel joint to allow for perfect aiming of the screen, but taking a pair of bolt-cutters to it would be a bit too obvious, and too likely to result in legal action from the store.
A label on the back of each advertising spigot (as
prickvixen dubbed them soon after seeing them, when she visited a month or so after these first appeared) revealed that these were the brainchild of one 'Impli', and directed the curious to www.impli.com. I noted this, then promptly forgot about it. I grabbed a customer feedback form after paying for my stuff; on it, I politely described my distaste for these things, and noted my resolution never to purchase anything advertised on these screens (which has still held), and sent it in to Ralph's.Over the weeks, these things continued to grate on me. I don't watch television, at all; I browse the web with Chimera, which has a pop-up disabler, and I also use Privoxy to avoid wasting bandwidth and my attention loading in ads. (Privoxy works on most OSs; for Windows, however, I recommend the Proximotron. Both are free.) I do see advertisements, of course; they're inescapable - but for the most part, all I see is still ads. Because of this, I notice intrusive advertisements.
So I started checking into just what options were available to me for shopping in walking distance. I'm quite willing to spend a little more time walking with my own thoughts in exchange for not having to actively ignore a stream of ads. Eventually, I realized that Trader Joe's was nigh-perfect: only a block and a half further from my apartment, lower prices on just about everything, and a general attitude that seems quite incompatible with ever doing something as blatantly money-grubbing as these Impli Things. And they even play music that you might not like instead of offensively-inoffensive treacle. I still go to Ralph's when I'm making supper at 3AM and realize I'm missing an ingredient, or when I need Diet Coke, since I still have the fizzy caffeine water habit - but Ralph's gets less and less of my money.
It's worth noting that the content of these screens has changed, too. Now it's more blatant advertising, with the occasional snippet of a public-domain cartoon no longer breaking it up. ABC has been advertising their fall lineup on it. The sad thing is that when I do things like growl and throw my jacket over the screen for some peace, other people in line actually say "Hey! I was watching that!" and become annoyed at me for interrupting their mindless ad-consumption. *sigh*
The last time I went to Ralph's, I took down the URL on the back of the screens and actually went to the Impli website. Their slogan is "connecting eye to i™". The whole thing drips marketroid soullessness. I won't try to describe it; go look for yourself - it's pretty small. The part that best sums the whole thing up is their 'media kit'; it takes great pains to be nigh-illegible on any browser but IE because of anally-precise layout.
Today, I decided to tell these folks how vile their 'unique technology platform' is. Fearing being put on spam lists, I started up a Yahoo! mail account with the ironic name of 'asatisfiedcustomer' and sent this to the first person listed on their contact page:
Subject: Thanks! Hi there. I just wanted to say thank you for your advertising spigots - their annoyance has caused me to largely abandon Ralph's in favor of Trader Joe's, whose offerings are both cheaper and better. Without your flat-panel displays making me feel like Ralph's sees me as nothing more than a pair of eyeballs and a wallet, I would still be paying too much money for their high prices. Again, thanks!
...followed, of course, by the inevitable ad for Yahoo as the signature.
More and more, our society comes to resemble the one described in Pohl and Kornbluth's SF novel 'The Space Merchants'. This is not a good thing. I sometimes find myself wondering if the increasing shrillness of advertising is a warning sign of the collapse of capitalism...