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First came product placement. In exchange for a payment, whether in cash, supplies or services, a TV show or a film would prominently display a brand-name product.
Then there was virtual product placement. Products or logos would be inserted into a show during the editing, thanks to computer-generated imagery.
Now, with the rise of Netflix and other streaming platforms, the practice of working brands into shows and films is likely to get more sophisticated. In the near future, according to marketing executives who have had discussions with streaming companies, the products that appear onscreen may depend on who is watching.
More [HERE]
How Much Longer Is That Floating Billboard Going to Ruin My View?
The audacity of one man deciding what should and shouldn't bother people so he can continue to profit off of thier grievance is remarkable... and then entirely not when you consider the business model of distracting the public for private profit.
Months after a Florida-based company began sailing digital advertisements on the Hudson and East Rivers, the city has filed a lawsuit seeking to stop them. More [HERE]
When traditional outdoor ads were replaced with screens I bemoaned the upgrade as a more insidious distraction that was simply harder to ignore as our brains trained our eyes on thier movement. When LinkNYC went in on the streets of NYC, I thought that it would be another opportunity for more distraction but that at least it would come with a touchpad and free phone calls. What has become clear in the first years of LINK's deployment is that is has no interest in traditional advertising whatsoever. Made up of #artonlink and "fun facts" about NYC, the majority of content displayed is a benign sedative obscuring the less obvious data collection practices being employed. No longer is the material of persuasion a physical image designed to cause some affect, but rather the collection of your data which can be used to more subtlety influence who you are and what you want. We are entering a fantastically dystopian era where the tools of persuasion go "underground" and we are all left wondering why we want a Coke so bad even though we haven't seen the curly font on a bright red background for years.
WHEN SIDEWALK LABS, a “smart cities” start-up launched by Google, made its Toronto debut in October 2017, a torrent of global adulation followed. Over the next few weeks, Sidewalk choreographed events featuring luminaries such as former Google chairman Eric Schmidt and Sidewalk founder and CEO Dan Doctoroff. There was even a cameo appearance from Canada’s hipster prime minister Justin Trudeau, whose Liberal government is investing heavily to attract innovation-driven companies to Canada. More [HERE]
Many developers market apps for children as being educational. So Jenny Radesky, a pediatrician who wrote the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines for children and media, wanted to check that out. More [HERE]
With the gold rush of the Lower East Side waterfront comes the vultures.
Several readers have noticed the recent influx of billboard barges floating across the East River. As this area continues to gentrify, and with the prospect of three new large-scale luxury developments looming, those eyeballs are obviously evermore valuable to advertisers. More [HERE]
Pretend you are the lead detective on a hit new show, “CSI: Terrible Stuff on the Internet.” In the first episode, you set up one of those crazy walls plastered with headlines and headshots, looking for hidden connections between everything awful that’s been happening online recently. More [HERE]
Artist Nikolas Bentel is on a mission to destroy an original Robert Rauschenberg in a project intended to emphasize how the art market is, in his words, “a glorified stock market.” Beginning this week, the artist — who is part of the New Museum-led incubator New Inc. — is selling off sections of the artwork as advertising space, so its surface will eventually be covered with an eclectic assortment of images.
More [HERE]
A new digital billboard in London's Piccadilly Circus uses recognition technology to display targeted advertisements based on the make of passing cars, and the gender and age of pedestrians. More [HERE]
Since first appearing on the streets of New York City in 2016, LinkNYC’s free public Wi-Fi kiosks have prompted controversy. The initial version of the kiosks’ privacy policy was particularly invasive: it allowed for LinkNYC to store personal browser history, time spent on a particular website, and lacked clarity about how LinkNYC would handle government demands for user data, among others issues. While CityBridge, the private consortium administering the network, has thankfully incorporated welcome changes to its use policy, several problems unfortunately remain.
The Ad Feels a Bit Like Oscar Bait, but It’s Trying to Sell You an iPhone
This isnt outdoor advertising related but I take interest in how advertising is morphing as it becomes more common for people the bemoan its attention grabbing and manipulative ways. Here the answer seems to be companies trying to make advertising that is more engaging and less repugnant to viewers. What this strategy does not address is the underlying fact that we dont want to be manipulated and this masking of the methods of manipulation only shines the turd, but does nothing to get rid of its foul stench.
Carrie Brownstein, the actress known for the series “Portlandia,” wrote and directed a short film last fall that pokes fun at the exaggerated comments people post under pictures of celebrities on social media, showing what would happen if reverential remarks like “Mom” or “marry me” played out in the real world. More [HERE]
The next evolution of Snapchat's Lenses could add more than just a flower crown to your selfies. According to a new report from The Information, Snap Inc. is working on a smarter version of its cartoonish filters and world lenses that could overlay images -- and advertisements -- onto a variety of real-world objects. More [HERE]
The giant E Ink displays, developed by Mercedes-Benz, Visonect, and RoadAds Interactive, are actually each made up of four 32-inch E Ink screens that are synced to function as a single three-by-five-feet display with a resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels and 16-levels of grayscale. More [HERE]
Charlie Todd of the infamous Improve Everywhere sent me some photos over the weekend of planes flying over the beach, in formation, to advertise Citibank services. He explained that he decided to craft the message after the final straw was drawn in the form of a giant LED billboard on the back of a boat, patrolling the coastline. We both rallied behind a "is there no place sacred" argument and went about our routine until he sent me these images yesterday from 27th and 7th avenue.
Who the fuck knows what marketing genius cooked up this doozy but it had to be someone from NYC that understands a pedestrians uniquely close relationship with the giant street level billboards operated by Contest Promotions, or whatever damn company has swallowed Contest Promotions in an effort to keep what was once an illegal business alive and well. Using what I can only describe as a physical tactic that is highly reminiscent of a few NYSAT pieces, this J-Crew ad acknowledges its "artistic" inspiration while gleefully engaging in full on viral marketing hashtag nonsense. Commercial media, and consumerist culture are a leach on society and a thief of creativity from the products created to the ways in which they are advertised.
The millions of people who follow Kim Kardashian West and her sisters on social media have become accustomed to seeing them praise everything from fat-burning tea to gummy vitamins for healthier hair. More [HERE]
When it comes to acceptance of New York City’s rapidly growing network of sidewalk kiosks offering “free super fast Wi-Fi,” some people are Nekeya Browns and some are Alex Padillas. More [HERE]
At six-five, Bill de Blasio is usually considerably taller than his conversation partners. But on a cold day in February, the mayor of New York City was on the corner of Third Avenue and 16th Street, interfacing with a nine-and-a-half-foot-tall slab, all sleek curves of metal and glass, that had recently appeared on the sidewalk outside the Mariella Pizza shop. The mayor was testing the monolith's local expertise — did it know the location of the pre-kindergarten program nearest to his Park Slope home? The machine passed the quiz, and, the mayoral mugging concluded, de Blasio turned to the microphone. More [HERE]
Does it bother, please, or amuse you when targeted remarketing by Facebook or Google shows ads for items you recently investigated online? Regardless of how you feel about it, targeted advertising is not only here, but it’s going to increase. More [HERE]
When TV Ads Go Subliminal With a Vengeance, We’ll Be to Blame
The article below isn't about outdoor advertising but it did have some relevant quotes regarding how viewers ingest advertising despite thier attempts not to, as well as the effectiveness of advertising in general. So often, and usually in response and to critique my work, people say "what's the big deal, I don't look at ads anyways." Well there is a 70 Billion dollar TV advertising business and 32 Billion in OOH market that begs to differ. That much money isn't spent so you can ignore the messages being paid for and whether you like it or not, the commercial messages that surround us are seeping into your consciousness. In fact, those that think they can ignore advertising should be all the more appalled to find out that thier best attempts are futile and thier perceived autonomy is a lie that they are telling themselves. Here are two quotes from the article that seem to suggest the industry knows what it is doing.
"It turns out viewers are overwhelmingly absorbing the messages coming from the TV even as they stare at the other devices, Mr. Poltrack said."
“'If less people see your advertising, you will sell less things.'”
For decades the annual television industry ritual known as the upfronts has gone the same way.
Thousands of advertising and television executives trudge between New York’s great cultural centers — Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, Lincoln Center — where network executives screen premieres of their hottest new shows (“24: Legacy” on Fox! “Designated Survivor” on ABC!); trot out their biggest stars (Jennifer Lopez! Kerry Washington!), and disclose which programs will go where on the prime-time schedules being set for the fall.
More [HERE]
Digital advertising is going big—very big—and will soon be everywhere. The out-of-home advertising market (OOH), which includes everything from billboards to posters to Jumbotrons, is finally making a big push into the digital landscape, changing what used to be static canvases into dynamic advertising displays. More [HERE]
