As low as it wants to go in order to get one more kid's attention and money. In Mike's List: ISSUE 72 Mike Elgan points to the way in which the AOL Disc Marketing Virus has spread to the rest of the marketingnoids that afflict the public. Their new targets? Children, of course:
In the old days, the disk-spamming industry meant that AOL was marketing to adults. Now, it's everybody -- including AOL -- marketing mainly to kids.This is, of course, a minor annoyance, but then our culture seems to be filling up with minor annoyances making for major headaches.Adults, after slaving over a computer at work for 12 hours aren't likely to grab a free CD at blockbuster and shout "Wow. A Free CD! I think I'll spend my evening exploring these exciting offers."
But kids, the marketing geniuses have learned, are easy targets for these giveaways. I went to the movies last night, and there was a CD glued to my bag of popcorn. The CD envelope was clearly targeting teenagers, trying to get them to install the disk and check out movie trailers and buy movie-related junk.
And why shouldn't the marketingoids go after kids using the AOL model? After all, the AOL chatrooms pioneered the proliferation of porn and inappropriate sexual suggestions to and between the young. DISCS4KIDS just a logical brand-tooling extension of the "more is better for you" mindset.
It seems strange to me that with all the frantic activity to control "Spam on the Net," nothing seems to be done about the Spam in our postal mailboxes, Spam dropped on our doorsteps (How many different Yellow Pages do you need?), and Spam shoved into our shopping bags, hands, and under our windshields.
In New York City, thousands of people stand around on streetcorners pushing flyers for everything from Pedicures to Laptops to Lapdances into your hands. The primary purpose of this, as is readily evident down the block, is "litter distribution." Yet nobody seems to be mounting a 'nationwide online campaign' to "Stop the Drop!" Nope, it would seem that Americans can put up with any method of dispersing marketing garbage into the environment as look as they don't have to delete Spam from the subject lines of their inbox every day.
The "AOL Disc virus" is just a place holder for vast foetid shoals of marketing detritus that sweeps over your daily life in a volume that will fill the most commodious recycling containers in the world. We've got the AOL disc virus everywhere, we've got the nationwide kid's scavenger hunt for the Oreo that turns your milk blue and makes you sort of rich. There's always more at the door.
Eliminate Spam in email? Otay! But don't stub your toe on those phone books on the way out the door to the local multiplex where you'll kiss ten bucks goodbye in order to sit through five commercials and sixteen previews before getting what you paid for.
Look for those popcorn boxes at the movies to contain Trojan Condoms -- the trial size -- soon. The only questions are when, and will they only be slipped in during R-rated film? Well, at first. But then, in order to "increase market-share" and imprint brands on children, look for them to show up in Disney films within the decade. Complete with a cute little booklet where Mickey shows you how to use them. Safe Sex and Popcorn. Let's do it "for the children."
Posted by Vanderleun at October 9, 2003 10:12 AM | TrackBack"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper N.B.: Comments are moderated to combat spam and may not appear immediately. Comments that exceed the obscenity or stupidity limits will be either edited or expunged.