Beamed Sonic Advertising Is Coming 396
newtley writes in with a story from Ad Age a few days back. "Advertisers are determined to get into your head by one means or another, and Holosonic Research Labs has found yet another way of invading your privacy in the name of forcing you pay attention. You're walking down a street in New York when all of a sudden, a woman's voice whispers 'Who's that? Who's There?' No, you weren't having a psychotic episode; you were being subjected without your permission to 'sound in a narrow beam, just like light.' It was coming at you from a rooftop speaker seven stories up."
Psychosis ahead ... (Score:5, Insightful)
CC.
Not invading your privacy... (Score:2, Insightful)
I hate the paranoia that creeps into slashdot....
Re:So what? (Score:3, Insightful)
May Violate Noise Pollution Ordinances (Score:4, Insightful)
Targeted "sonic advertising" could be construed as noise pollution, even if it has a very small foot print.
I am not keen to see a technology like this used to interrupt one's thoughts and concentration, particularly for commercial purposes.
A possible "good" use for it might be at street crossings to warn pedestrians of changes in the traffic lights. I am sure that other uses for the public good could be found.
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Sig: A model airplane company in Montezuma IA.
Nothing nefarious my tookus (Score:5, Insightful)
It is penetrating my space purposefully and unavoidably to sell me a product that I do not want. And even if I *did* want it, I will no longer thanks to this intrusive form of advertising. And yes, it is like a flashlight: directly in my eyes from which I cannot turn away.
No no no no no. Direct audio advertising like this is a Bad Thing(tm).
Louder than an mp3 player? (Score:2, Insightful)
And then there are those wonderful Bose noise-canceling headphones (though they DO allow most human voices to go through). Hopefully those will keep the ads away. If not, I'm sure these ridiculous ads will spur a new line of headphones that specifically -make sure- that the ads stay out of your ears. Sound is much easier to block than...say...billboards/other visuals.
How many people really believe ads anyways? Are they REALLY that effective? I can see a few ads here and there... but the more intrusive ones really just turn me off to the company. I know I'll make a point never to buy a product that gets injected into my ears.
Actually, that's probably the best way to get these ads off the street: just tell everyone who complains about the ad to stop buying the product. Eventually, the news will filter up, and other marketing agencies (hopefully) will learn that it's not even worth implementing. Until then, noise canceling headphones + music for me.
Re:Not invading your privacy... (Score:5, Insightful)
Imagine someone screaming in your ear when you least expect it. Would you say "Hey, its in public, so go on, hurt my ears"?
I don't think so. I hate advertising as the next guy, but this is certainly a step too far. It frightens, disorients or startles unsuspecting people, it disrupts talking, endangers bikers and motorists and may cause much more mayhem than I can think.
This IS like yelling FIRE! in a crowded theater. If this is ruled as legally acceptable advertising, expect eye-safe lasers and strobos everywhere flashing directly into your eyes.
in other examples.... (Score:5, Insightful)
You are standing in line to buy something and another comes up behind you in line and starts talking, you turn around an see they are on a cell phone. This doesn't stop them from standing behind you a foot away and talking really loud directed at the back you your head. All you hear is half a conversation. You mention it to them how annoying it is and they respond by saying they are not bothered by this act of theirs.
You are in city traffic the car in front of you misses a green light but you have a meeting to be at. At the next light you are cut off and again miss the light, getting out of teh city you seem to be constantly stuck behind a car driving 10-15miles an hour slower than the speed limit while traffic in the lanes next to you is speeding by faster than you are able to change lanes. and during all of this you notice in every case the person causing teh traffic interference is on a cell phone.
Now imagine walking down the city sidewalk and the person in front of you suddenly stops and you walk into them. Imagine walking down the sidewalk and you hear what sounds like someone talking to you and you turn to answer them and someone else walks into you. Imagine commercials where there are sirens, like the telephone or door bell commercials that fool you into answering the door or phone. Imagine having your car top down in the city and hearing such sounds.
Are there any other ways to cause stress in our every day lives?
Re:Pandora's box (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Of course it's not invading your privacy (Score:3, Insightful)
If these become popular the entire sidewalk will be filled. Heck I bet that if these work through cars then they will cover the road too. This is like littering, only harder to clean up. I suggest that people make a device like the noise canceling headphones that will beam an opposite sound wave onto the same spot.
Imagine walking down the road and going from one ad to another. "...buy...zybex...ask...drunk...best...recomended...k...eel...all...hue...man's...with...a...edbull...it..." Try holding a conversation when walking down any big street with these. Currently you can direct your conversation away from other people so your not as loud to them as their conversation. These are like the annoying political advocates who barge up with loudspeakers. Heck even loudspeakers aren't allowed to be used like this.
At my church I help with a 4-5 year old class. In this class there is one kid who has a mental problem that makes him react badly to loud noises. I would hate to have him experiance these things. He would sadly end up on the ground trying to cover his ears. (noise causes extreme pain for him).
The real problem (Score:5, Insightful)
Slashdotters find this concept deeply offensive, and thereby assume it must be an invasion of privacy because thats what normally rubs them up the wrong way. That isn't it though.
The problem is the claiming of public space for private purposes. If there were advert booths where you walked in and got some marketing blasted at you, it wouldn't be so bad, but these pricks are polluting a public space for their own asinine purposes. No, it doesn't count as free speech because corporations are not people and therefore do not have such a right. Furthermore, it isn't a petition against the government, its an annoyance to individuals.
Be aware of the concept of public space. Its vital to civilisation but is seen by the elites as merely space the private sector hasn't got a use for. Yet.
It will solve itself: it won't work. (Score:5, Insightful)
Over the past few decades there's been an arms race to "cut through the clutter" with more and more novel, attention-grabbing, intrusive ads. They only work for a very short time. The first time you see an ad on a placard inside a supermarket cart, it grabs your attention. Then you tune it out. Lately the local supermarket have gone to putting ads on the floor, in some kind of tough plastic laminate. The first time you see it, it grabs your attention. Then you tune it out.
A few years back, they had little discount-coupon vending machines hanging off the shelves, flashing bright LEDs at you. I notice they're gone now. They probably worked for a while, then people tuned them out.
These will be a seven days' wonder, then advertisers will start studying the results, and I already know what they will find: the devices will be expensive to put in place, expensive to maintain, very effective for a short time at getting people to talk about the ads... and very ineffective at getting people to buy the product.
What's the "unique selling proposition" here? What, exactly, is the difference between reading "Ask your dermatologist about Enbrel," hearing someone tell it to you on a TV set, or hearing it inside your head as you walk down the street?
The unspoken assumption is that hearing the sound localized as coming from inside our heads will somehow turn it into a command hallucination and force us to obey. It won't. Not any more than "subliminal advertising" did. Not any more than using electronic echo effects, or making it sound like Darth Vader, or a "voice of God" echo effect would.
Re:Psychosis ahead ... (Score:3, Insightful)
As someone else points out, this is the sonic equivalent of having a penlight beamed into your eyes, with no ability to look away.
It's not 7 stories up (Score:5, Insightful)
The funny thing is, I thought it was pretty stupid and so must have the high schoolers who hang out 20 feet from it each morning because they smashed the thing =) lol
Re:Ask your doctor about Zyprexa (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm not sure why your comment was modded 'funny' as opposed to 'insightful' -- because if it isn't stopped early, that /will/ be what happens in a few years or sooner. Best of all is the way the spokesperson justifies it: The sound isn't rattling your skull, it's not penetrating you, it's not doing anything nefarious at all. It's just like having a flashlight vs. a light bulb," he said.
Yeah. Right. A 28,000 candlepower halogen flashlight [scientificsonline.com], shined right in my fucking eyes in the middle of a moonless night.