Hear Voices? It May Be an Ad – Advertising Age – News
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) —
New Yorker Alison Wilson was walking down Prince Street in SoHo last week when she heard a woman’s voice right in her ear asking, “Who’s there? Who’s there?” She looked around to find no one in her immediate surroundings. Then the voice said, “It’s not your imagination.” Indeed it isn’t. It’s an ad for “Paranormal State,” a ghost-themed series premiering on A&E this week. The billboard uses technology manufactured by Holosonic that transmits an “audio spotlight” from a rooftop speaker so that the sound is contained within your cranium. The technology, ideal for museums and libraries or environments that require a quiet atmosphere for isolated audio slideshows, has rarely been used on such a scale before. For random passersby and residents who have to walk unwittingly through the area where the voice will penetrate their inner peace, it’s another story.
Mr. Pompei contends that the technology will take time for consumers to get used to, much like the lights on digital signage and illuminated billboards did when they were first used. The website Gawker posted an item about the billboard last week with the headline “Schizophrenia is the new ad gimmick,” and asked “How soon will it be until in addition to the do-not-call list, we’ll have a ‘do not beam commercial messages into my head’ list?”
I have never liked the idea of subliminal advertising, its way too manipulative. Of course, the pessimist in me can see this being horribly misused. What if McDonalds employs this technology, or the military? Maybe they have been using this on the President all along.
Can I get someone to tell my Shrink this? Maybe I am not a paranoid schizophrenic and can stop taking my meds!
Oh wait…this is only when viewing a billboard?
Never mind…..
The first time a schizophrenic walks past this billboard, there’s going to be trouble.
Scary stuff, I don’t want to live Phillip K. Dick’s dystopian future!
I don’t want to get used to voices in my head. This takes it too far.
Cool!
Next, they’ll implant the receivers and speakers into our fillings so they can broadcast the voices to us at will.
Hey…wait a minute
This is not subliminal advertising, strictly speaking. Subliminal anything, by definition, is sub (below) the limin (threshold) of perception.
This stuff you can hear.
It may be sneaky, but it’s not subliminal (and in all likelihood, not effective either beyond the “Golly” factor).
Stuff like this will probably just get the “real” voices in my head arguing about what’s being advertised. So much for a nice quiet walk in the soon to be advertisement riddled park.
NO, NO, NO, NOOOO…
I have a hard enough time discerning WHAT IS REAL..
I dont need help, going NUTS, and thinking that PEOPLE are talking to me.. I have ENOUGH of that NOW.
Turning it OFF at night is what gets to me…
#7 “NO, NO, NO, NOOOO…”
I was gonna say… the first time ECA walks into range of one of those things, its all over. 🙂
IF’ I ever find one, they WONT like the mess I make.. My shot gun WONT be nice.
I see the movie “Minority Report” future advertising predictions coming true way too soon. How long before someone comes up with a jammer?
Geez.
Kornbluth and Pohl in their 1948 novel, “The Space Merchants”. Well worth the re-read.
Though hats off too, to Philip K. Dick Ubik.
1. we have cellphones that KNOW, WHO and WHERE you are…
Using BT, what would it take to READ this and tag you as you went into a MALL.
2. NOW THIS…Hearing specific Adverts inside YOUR HEAD..
Im <200 miles from the mountains, and RUNNING FAST.
I’ll come back, once in a while and pick up your EXTRA stuff, and head back.. Old time Sat dishes ALL over the place, and Wind/solar power.. i think I could survive..Just need a Hot spring someplace.
Mr. Mustard is correct. This is not subliminal advertising, or subliminal anything. That is supposedly some message that you receive that’s not immediately perceptual. And that would be quite a trick to pull off. I’ve never seen any evidence of an effective subliminal message technique. Though I’m sure there’s quite a bit of folklore about it. Like making people thirsty or hungry at the cinema, to go for popcorn and drinks, by burying shots of their products in the movie. Sorry, that doesn’t work. If it did, the movie industry would never have to resort to those highly visible and painfully obvious product placements, for brand goods. Some of those thing are about as subtle as a trainwreck.
Glen,
It does work, and has been OUT LAW’d…
It was done on TV, in the 50-60’s..And i think BEFORE.
[Duplicate comment. – Deleted. – ed.]
Ha. Reminds of a crazy looking street person I saw one day with a T-shirt that said, “Support Mental Health or I’ll Kill You”.
“You’re just jealous ’cause the voices are only talking to me.”
Now that’s a phrase whose time has come…
#17. Apparently you haven’t seen “They Live”.