In Your Face: Ad Placements of Tomorrow

PR folks get steady grief for trying to place news stories. And while the definition and delivery of news is worth some scrutiny, let's be honest. Grief makes for good content.

But what about the visual pollution created by the ad side of the house? OK, let me be more specific…it’s not the ads. It’s where ads are being placed that never ceases to disgust amaze me.

Now there are ads on parking spots, food and even foreheads.

This over the top approach to ad placement may have started at trade shows. Trade shows are an all out attention war. It’s not enough to have a booth bimbo anymore, you have to have ads stashed anywhere the eyes might wander.

During your next plane flight you might see an ad as you takeoff or land. Air space is now prime ad space?! It’s enough to make me sick (courtesy of CBS).

And now, even police cars are sporting ads. Uh, Tim Horton’s, Krispy Kreme and Dunkin Donuts, what are you waiting for?

It'll get worse before it gets better. How bad will it get? Here are five places I (don’t really) think we’ll see ads placed in the future.

Monumental Ads: The Washington Monument sporting a condom ad, the Seven Wonders of the World, brought to you by a casino…it’s the ultimate in brand association.

X-Ray Ads: Crafty companies looking to influence a healthcare industry niche may pay someone to adjust their rib cage to resemble a logo or brand name.

Bowl Ads: The men’s bathroom has already inspired a myriad of ad techniques. The next time you enter a stall, don’t be surprised to see something ugly staring up at you from the bowl. Hopefully you can flush these ads.

Baby Scales: The first "moment of truth" for a new consumer could very well be when it’s weighed for the first time…consider the brand impression!

Headstones: The baby scale ad buy might be packaged with some headstone advertising as part of a company’s thorough cradle to grave strategy.

The Bible: It worked for The Gideons and King James. The opportunities are endless if you consider codex licensing could extend your brand to other best sellers like The Koran and The Torah.

We've just begun to see where ads will be placed. But let's hope the above predictions are nothing more than some snark to start your day.

UPDATE: According to AdLab, at least one of my predictions has already come true. Along with AdRants, they point us to some bad ad placements I missed in the above list. Sigh.

Related:
NY Times Ads Everywhere -- Ad Lab
Corporate Tattoo You -- Scatterbox
Ad Creep Reaches PDFs -- Ad Pulp

advertising everywhere in nyc uploaded by jeffreyk
tags | advertising | marketing | branding | brand

Comments

[Geoff Livingston]

Ads are easy to ignore. Your head sees them, and quickly turns itself off. "Disengage, move along, move along."

[Scott Baradell]

In Pick of the Thicket, I just posted about a study that basically said Internet users who click on ads are usually the least savvy Web users -- in many cases, they don't even know what the hell they're clicking on.

Love the idea about Bible advertising. Mark my word: it WILL happen if it hasn't already somewhere.

[Kevin Dugan]

Geoff - Hard to ignore, easy to forget!

Scott - Where's Waldo meets the illustrated bible...yeah, it probably has happened somewhere before. I hope I'm not giving anyone ideas.

[Theron Harmon]

Sick but true. Ad blight has become pervasive. I'm in the promotional products business, and even I'm of the mind that it is way out of control. I wonder if there is some type of book, class or website on the ethics of placement.

Since ads are already on police cars, the next step is to print a coupon on the traffic citation.

[Samuel Janson]

I don't believe that it is that marketers becoming smarter with placement. I believe that companies and government departments have learned that (just like NASCAR) that open space sells, so why not sell it. Police departments, like other organizations, are having their budgets cut. Why then is it ridiculous then to expect them to find alternate forms of revenue to cover their overhead?

Some people are really lazy and getting a forehead tattoo is what they may deem as an appropriate form of income, even if most people disapprove.

[John]

Oddly, I read an article in Cincinnati Magazine about a P&G sponsored cemetery. Headstones were equipped with LCDs that could display the deceased's favorite SNL skit, sports clip or a custom video tribute. However, if a stranger, unrelated to the deceased, was browsing the headstones he would see an advertisement for Pringles or Bounty.

I was in shock when I read the article (it was on the last page, adjacent to the back cover) but there was no indication that it was a joke.

[headstones]

Handcarved headstones are no doubt the best available, all in various types of stone the hand carving adds a certain personal element to the memorial/monument.

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[Kyle Burke]

I can't believe you don't mention bathroom advertising in this article. Most people seem to like it so why not put it where people have time to read?

The bible advertising is a little over the top.