10/9: Wheel ad

Oh no.

From the fine ZZZ Online. There was a time, I recall beause I am older, when advertising did not cover every single inch of space, everywhere. When they didn't think of putting ads on the floors, or on shopping carts, or in fortune cookies, or on the sides of rockets, or...

Or on the moving wheels and tires of race cars. Because you couldn't possibly do that, because most of the time the car is moving and you can't see the ad.

Until now, when someone has worked out how to use little LEDs and software to put an image there that remains stable even when the car is moving.

[Prediction: remember this "age of advertising" now, because in another few years, there will come a new time, when the attitude of the public changes and this degree of ad proliferation will no longer be tolerated.]

Toyota ....You're going to WANT it. Has anyone else been creeped out by the latest Toyota tv ads in which fleeting, subliminal flickering "...WANT it" is flashed up on various screens? No one in the world is spared the visual bombardment, all the while newly enlightened consumers turn in slow motion to the swelling orchestral track. Eeeek.Avert your gaze!

When is madison ave gonna figure out that we are now tuning out more and more? Any of you guys ride trains to work? I heard they have a new ad method for folks moving by at speed using unconnected lights.

Problems with ads?

Let me go out on a limb here. What's the beef with ads, anyway?

Sure, most of them are ugly. Annoying. Insulting to your intelligence. But remember: ads for for stupid, easily influenced (read: bought) people. If you find yourself above this level -- ignore them. On the other hand, they make money. Someone paid money to show you a picture of their logo. You don't have to look at it, but we all enjoy the benefits the advertising industry provides.

We shouldn't discourage all advertising. If there were no advertising, would there be as many great free web pages as there are? Would there be a google? Popup ads are the best thing since sliced bread. Compare them to banner ads, which take up space and slow down the loading/rendering in the main page -- popups have their own window, and you can simply block the JavaScript window.open() function in Mozilla to prevent them from being shown at all (as opposed to keeping a complicated list of filters and running a proxy to avoid banner ads). It doesn't get better, folks.

Do you really miss the gray steel sides of a bus that much? Does the part of the wheel obscured by the Toyota ad need to be out in the open that much? Think about it -- some guy got paid to wire it with those LEDs, write that software ... that's a lot better than being paid to break your back in a mine for 12 hours, say. Yet we all (and I've been guilty myself quite often) complain about this relatively benign and actually benefitial ad industry. Y'know, how about the oil barons who stifle organic fuel research, keeping us reliant on lunatics in the Middle East for energy when we could be running cars on CORN or HEMP and have them ten times as efficient while being one-tenth as harmful to the environment?

That's worth fighting against ... ad people just generate insane amounts of revenue finding new ways to show pictures and the like. So why don't you learn to draw, and get 'em to pay you too?

I'm gonna leave this one up to you guys, though if I see nothing in two days, it's time to break out the railgun and the asbestos PJs

heh heh Now that is something I'd pay to see. You may want to go with teflon... easier on the lungs and can be bullet proof to boot. have at g

ads are OK

I got no beef with ads, when tastefully and artfully done they are enjoyable and advise me of goods and services that are available.
Unfortunately, not all advertisers subscribe to this school of thought, and can make a mess of a good thing.

If I were in charge of making rules (which luckily I am not) I'd say:

1) No advertising in the natural world, that means no highway billboards, no skywriting, no space-based signage, no banner-towing etc. There is a place for advertising and it isn't on the face of nature.

2) No advertising that intrudes into one's private space, no blaring from mobile public address systems, no door-to-door sales, no telemarketing.

Can't think of any others right now. I think the wheel ads are fine. Sports are traditionally high-advertising events, which in part supports the cost of hosting the event. TV ads or radio ads are fine as these media are easily avoided.

Alternative explanation

Ads rely on people NOT giving much thought to what they see.

What if you say "K-mart cars have Toyota wheels?" A little kid, not saturated with advertising, would believe you.

You might avoid Toyota =wheels=if that's what holds up K-mart cars. A whole -car- from Toyota? Must be a heap.

The advertising delivery method is kind of creative, though the message can (and will) be mis-interpreted.

Here is another photo off of the very annoying inventor's site. There is a wierd double exposure of the thing behind the driver's head, probably caused by the photographer's panning. It looks like the resolution of (number of) the LED's does not have to be that great, but it is the timing of the flashes that matters because of high rotational speed. This allows one LED to cover more area in less time. I just want to know how you design a reliable circuit that spins that fast in such a harsh environment.

There was an article on /. about spinning LED clocks like this.

UT, this reminds me of Sandy's post on phl.media about the ads in the old Franklin Sq. PATCO station. I didn't quite follow the concept, but methinks I'm gonna ride PATCO Friday and see for myself.

i am extremely anti-ad but i won't go into it here.

around toronto i keep seeing taxis and other vehicles driving by and they have hubcabs that dont move with the wheel [it isnt LEDs here i don't believe] that contain advertisements for a rather large internet directory.

around the office we also have a foozball table (donated) with the same logo as well as a bouncy ball - the big rubber things with a handle that you jump around on. what the hell is it doing in an office, i dont know.

the ball

I think that ball thing is called a "Hopitty-Hop". It's a childrens toy, popular in the 1970's.

Re: ads are OK