I think among all the media bombardment over the last 10 years I think the one strange development I’ve noticed has happened in the local grocery store. Usually traveling through the checkout line all the marketing involved in that immediate area is focused on candy bars and tabloid magazines. But now at my local supermarket they have those flats screen monitors with constant ads and clips from televisions shows running on a constant loop. Every 90 seconds a new micro-infomercial begins. Does it work? Well, I watch it almost every time. I don’t remember buying anything specific that was advertised there, but it had my attention.
There is a similar (only much larger) flat screen hanging over the produce department touting the goodness of fresh produce and how to pick and prepare the best fruits and vegetable. Each snippet brought to you by Kraft Foods, or the California Almond Council among others. Of course now, between the big screen hanging over the bananas and the Food Network, I know way too much on how to pick the perfect artichoke (I hate artichokes).
It seems advertisers are trying to get a display screen in front your face anyway they can; computers, television, cell phones, buses, airports etc. It used to be we all would sit around the TV and the advertisers knew where we were. Now they are sending out the TV’s to find us. It kind of reminds me of scenes from Blade Runner, where there was an animated billboard in almost every scene. Advertising use to be more passive, now it has legs and it’s out looking to steal our attention.
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