For rent: Your forehead for $5,000
It’s happened. There are people today willing and eager to sell advertising space on their bodies.
Is this the future of advertising? I hope not. But I think we’re headed there.
There’s advertising everywhere nowadays. I’ve recently heard of the existence of so-called “underground advertising” (from The Corporation [IMDb page], a documentary film about the “psycophatic” nature of corporations that is well worth watching). In this insidious new twist, advertisers are hiring people to have conversations on the street within the earshot of others, about how good certain products are, hoping that people will overhear these staged conversations and buy their products. Some people are even being paid to recommend particular brands to their friends.
When even our friends are giving us sales pitches instead of their honest opinions, then we have to ask ourselves what our world has come to.
This is not just sad; it’s dangerous. We’re willingly selling our souls—not to the devil, but to corporations—and this something that has become completely acceptable in our world today. Corporations are increasingly running our lives, and they are gaining more and more power in the world. This is a new age, where money is king, and corporations reign. We need to become more aware of what we’re ceding to our new corporate overlords.
This message was not brought to you by Cingular Wireless, AOL-Time Warner, Microsoft, Citigroup, McDonald’s, or the Disney Corporation.
Is this the future of advertising? I hope not. But I think we’re headed there.
There’s advertising everywhere nowadays. I’ve recently heard of the existence of so-called “underground advertising” (from The Corporation [IMDb page], a documentary film about the “psycophatic” nature of corporations that is well worth watching). In this insidious new twist, advertisers are hiring people to have conversations on the street within the earshot of others, about how good certain products are, hoping that people will overhear these staged conversations and buy their products. Some people are even being paid to recommend particular brands to their friends.
When even our friends are giving us sales pitches instead of their honest opinions, then we have to ask ourselves what our world has come to.
This is not just sad; it’s dangerous. We’re willingly selling our souls—not to the devil, but to corporations—and this something that has become completely acceptable in our world today. Corporations are increasingly running our lives, and they are gaining more and more power in the world. This is a new age, where money is king, and corporations reign. We need to become more aware of what we’re ceding to our new corporate overlords.
This message was not brought to you by Cingular Wireless, AOL-Time Warner, Microsoft, Citigroup, McDonald’s, or the Disney Corporation.
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