(This is Jen's. It was originally posted as a comment on the "Tiny Furniture" post on Sunday.)
http://www.theonion.com/video/new-google-phone-service-whispers-targeted-ads-dir,17470/
Although blatantly satirical, this news report from "The Onion" discusses an invasive advertising technique that could potentially appear in our society. The "Ad-Whisper Technique" cleverly manipulates consumers by cutting down calling costs (which in turn encourages greater cell phone use), all the while spewing garbage into listeners' ears. Advertisers have clearly outdone themselves on this one, for they have successfully targeted all of the consumer's weaknesses. The technique appeals to our warped sense of "friendship" by whispering to us in a friendly voice; thus, we do not recognize the voice as intrusive or disturbing, but as a pleasant reminder (hypnopaedia, anyone?). It also indulges our consumerism by indicating the many companies in which we can feverishly spend our money (for example, the long chain of Dunkin' Donuts on the way to the airport). It is disgusting to see how violating advertisements can be, even going so far as to interrupt our personal and private conversations. Advertisements become even bigger distractions in this technique since they are so clearly competing with the person on the other line (as demonstrated by the disastrous 911 call). So, which voice will you choose to listen to: your friend's or the ad's?
It's very disgusting to witness companies utilizing technology to their advantage and barraging us with their vexing advertisements. This kind of problem was also mentioned in class where we see these companies using the internet to promote their products. Take Youtube, for example. Youtube has always been a sight to allow us to sit back and watch millions of videos posted by people around the world. However, Youtube has now been forced to add advertisements on their videos, which can very frustrating considering the facts that one, the advertisements usually freeze and two, half the time your video finishes buffering before the advertisement. These irritations are just a small sign that indicate that technology has both positives and negatives (thus going into the technophobes and technophiles from that packet we read a while ago)
ReplyDeleteThat was hilarious and scary at the same time! I really loved this video because its blatantly satirical nature really allows us to think more deeply about how this is actually happening in our lives right now and how we're moving even more towards this. It reminds me a lot of AdChoices which we talked about in class. The ads we see are based on websites that we visited, so ads end up following us around.
ReplyDeleteThe voice is also quite scary. That same line is probably being spoken to so many people. It's much like an overused pick-up line that really shouldn't work, but still does.
Not only does the voice interrupt our conversations, but it also just becomes a part of one's life which goes to show that technology has penetrated the barriers of privacy.
We often choose the first choice of your question with confidence, but what happens when they become indistinguishable. Perhaps the scariest part of the video is the robotic mimicking of "the real Jeff Tate's" voice for advertisers to call members of your contact list with your voice.
- Abby
The video was really great and illustrated capitalism gone wrong very well. As a capitalist society, it seems natural that America has developed a consumer culture, as some of our previous readings have suggested. However, it seems as if consumerism has started going too far. Advertisements are always trying to stride ahead in their progress and in doing so erode our privacy and status as individuals. They aim to suck us into buying (or wanting to buy) products in any activity that we do. When will we wake from our overloaded stupor and say "That's enough!" to advertising?
ReplyDeleteIt will be hard to say "no" since the advertisers pay for the shows we love.
ReplyDeleteThe scary thing about this funny, satirical news report is that it really doesn't seem so far-fetched. A few years ago, I wouldn't have thought it would ever happen. But today, in a world where everything has a sponsorship and advertisements attached to it, I really wouldn't be surprised. At Yankee games, every time a Yankee player steals a base, the Modell's song comes on, and when watching most sporting events on television, every time they show a replay it is sponsored by a company. On the internet, you can't do anything without being bothered by ads. More and more, these ads are intrusive in our lives. More and more different types of things are being advertised (ex. universities have ads). Thus, advertisements during phone calls don't seem like too much of a surprise. Maybe in the middle of calls, while people are talking is a little overboard. But ads being played before the call, or instead of the dial tone seems like a very real possibility in the near future. And the thing is, that people will just accept these ads being played in that situation, because they don't seem like that big a deal. At this point, how many of us are really surprised when we hear/see advertisements in new situations? When it comes to advertising, nothing seems impossible anymore.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the points Mike and Guth just made - it is so hard to say no to the advertisements around us, especially since they are all over the place. I thought it was hilarious (and horrible) that the dunkin dohnuts had their own directions included within the gps; it really shows how much the ads are in our faces all the time. The video does a great job illustrating how dumb the "smart" phone can be - especially when they showed the guy that just got into a car accident and tried to talk to 911 but the smart phone kept interrupting so he actually didn't get through. This is a nice idea but it's definetly not going to work. The smart phone is full of distractions and advertisements that will suck us into consumerism more than we already are. Google is therefore causing more problems than actually solving them.
ReplyDeleteBuilding off what Sara said about the smart phone being full of distractions, I formed a connection to one of the articles that we previously read in class that enlightened us of the dangers of hyperlinks. How they distract and take away from our ability to comprehend the material we are reading. It turns everything from being qualitative to quantitative. The same is true for the smartphone. Just look at the slogan "There's an ap for that!" It suggests that for everything you need there is a solution yet at the same time it takes what was once a usefull tool-a phone-and makes it into something superficial. You really don't need a flashlight ap - you can just turn the screen on and it will work just the same. The quality of the phone is suddenly made important by how many aps it can hold rather than if the thing actually works. Because let's be honest--we don't need a million aps to find a coffee shop. There's already a Starbucks on every corner.
ReplyDeleteWhile in some instances in the video it seemed as if this gadget worked to peoples advantage, this is extremely intrusive and in general increasing advertisers powers. Isn't it enough that every time you go on the internet, random ads pop up in your face? This shows companies power to overrule the consumer, but also the fact that advertisers are becoming corrupt and using new technology to their advantage. Can we even have a personal life anymore? Although this is just one phone on the market, this goes to show advertisers power in the new era.
ReplyDeleteAlong from the concerns raised by others (laura and sara) about how useless some of the technologies that accompany smartphones today are, some can be considered outright dangerous. The video, although it was a highly satircal peice, reveals the harsh reality that technology has come to a point that it physically affects how well we can function. The petty distractions that people talk about so often, like facebook and hyperlinks, are overshadow things that actually kill people, like texting/calling while driving, the software controls in cars going bad and causing fatal accidents, not paying attention while BBMing (blackberry messaging) and getting hit by a car, etc. The example raised in the video, when the man is trying to contact 911 and having his voice drowned out by ads, reveals a chilling way that the near future can turn out, when our needs are superceded by technology's needs.
ReplyDeleteHypnopaedia is right! This is so mind blowing because no longer are pop-ups only on your computer but now they're in your phone conversations--being inserted subliminally into your brain. It is inevitable to go on an internet search without coming in contact with adds but now my personal calls too. This is insidious. Big Brother and Ford is not only watching but they're crawling out of your phone into your brain.
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