Malicious AdvertisingWritten by Daniel Punch
Advertising is a necessary irritant in world today. You can't drive down street without coming across an ad, either a billboard suspended over a road or a large poster plastered down side of a bus. If you walk into a shopping centre it doesn't matter where you look, you see an advertisement of some kind. Even tables in food court now have ads embedded in them, and on my last trip to Melbourne I noticed that they were starting to embed flat screen TVs into tables to deliver full commercial experience to your meal. If you jump on Internet you have to contend with pop-ups and banner ads, with some advertising agents being ruthless enough to write malicious code that embeds ad into your computer so that you still receive pop-ups even when you're not at original site.In past, pop-ups and banner ads have been easy enough to avoid with right software installed (incidentally, am I only one who finds pop-up ads that advertise pop-up blockers tremendously amusing?) but now software developers have worked their way around that little problem. The solution was simple; sell advertising space in your software, not just on your web page. As much as I like to complain about this new idea, it does come with a significant upside. These days, not all Shareware applications drop out after a limited period of use, nor do they constantly remind you to register. Having ads in software provides application developers with necessary funding to live but leaves user free from having to pay to use software. It ends up being in developer's best interest to ensure that user continues to use software for as long as possible, because that means an increased income. In my opinion this was a brilliant idea, and I wholeheartedly supported it until they started building unblockable pop-ups into software. The gaming world is getting in on act as well, which could be both positive and negative. The Internet provides functionality for games to constantly update virtual world with new billboards, TV ads, clothing and so on, keeping content fresh and ads current. From an advertising standpoint it's an amazing idea, people are spending less and less time watching TV and more and more time immersed in virtual worlds. The interactive nature of ads means that they will remain in a player's mind for a lot longer than TV ad break that can be walked away from, flicked over or simply ignored. The game developers on other hand now have an added source of income, meaning that they can take more risks without fear of losing money. Advertising in games is not a new idea, soft drink '7-Up' created a game many years ago called 'Cool Spot', which had player controlling a red dot with sunglasses in his quest to collect 7-Up logos. The game was remarkably solid, leaving players to enjoy game while still getting its message across. I played it a long time ago as a child, but I still remember how much fun it was and exactly what product it was pushing. Pepsi released a Playstation game called 'Pepsi Man' that involved a blue and white striped super-hero running around collecting cans of Pepsi. Red Bull got in on game with 'Wipeout' featuring 'Red Bull' banners and a loading screen bearing phrase "Increase your reaction time with Red Bull". 'Worms 3D' featured Red Bull as a power up. 'Crazy Taxi' had customers jump in player's taxi and holler "Take me to KFC!" or any of numerous other licensed locations in game. 'True Crime' had characters dressed in 'Puma' attire, with main character changing his outfits several times throughout game. Until now I've always thought that ads in games were amusing and, so long as they didn't interfere with playing of game, I was all for them. However, there are new ideas afoot that seem set to change my mind.
| | You’ll Bring a Parade of Business to Your Door!Written by Dr. Letitia S. Wright, D.C.
You’ll Bring a Parade of Business to Your Door! By Dr. Letitia S. Wright, D.C. Copyright 2005Parades happen in every big city and many small towns. They are fun, relaxing and most people are there because they really want to be. Parades are a wonderful marketing tool if you know what to do! I recommend being a part of your local town parades. For most local home towns, it only takes a convertible and some decorations. The biggest parade in my home town is Rose Parade because I grew up in Pasadena. There are not too many locals in that parade, but little know Doo-Dah Parade is FULL of locals and locals watching it. When people like a particular float or group, they throw soft tortillas at them. Most local parades are covered by local cable company. As you pass by announcers will give your information on television. If you are in parade, you can increase your face-name
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