Phone Ads
February 14, 2007 at 7:30 am | 2 Comments »Call me cynical but I’m so over all the talk about how ads on mobile phones are about to take the world by storm. Anyone wanting to posture as a visionary has prattled on about it for years. And what’s come of all the hype? Just more talk. I’ve yet to see a compelling campaign that’s actually run. Or even a mediocre example on my own handset. It seems to me that the mobile networks can barely keep up with the demand for voice calls and text messages. How will tossing ads into the mix help anyone except the greedy operators? It can’t. Unless something radically changes, I see ads on cell phones as a losing proposition for consumers and the sponsors alike.
Ads within video games are now starting to roll out. A lot of online games now have space for rent to advertisers and can be changed or updated on a whim. Imagine trying to play an online shooter like Half-Life 2, immersing yourself in a dreary apocalyptic future with coke ads blazing from the billboards.
Joy. Not.
Oh, just wait. I lived in Taiwan and Japan for two years, and mobile phone service is much different. For one thing, the quality is better. For another, it is much cheaper. You don’t have to pay for incoming calls – the fact that we have to in the US drives me crazy. I call someone and we both pay? What is up with that.
But aside from that, yes, you get ads on the phones. Let me also remind you that cable tv in the US was originally designed to be commercial free. Ha! You paid for the service, therefore you were supposed to have no/limited commercials. How well has that worked out?
The torrent of ads cannot be stopped. Look to Asia for a vision of the future.
M