FADults

I haven’t lived long enough to know otherwise, but it seems that over the past few years or so there has been a dramatic influx of “let’s all advertise” bandwagons. I don’t mean in a broad sense (I’m aware the advertising race began in the land before time), more the individual efforts of RIDICULOUS money making schemes and scams that get replicated so that brand new ideas stagnate in a matter of days. You know the ones I mean.

What grinds my gears is that there’s no particular malice in the ideas for these schemes – just someone somewhere finding another niche in the market – but the advertising is relentless! The companies that can afford to produce prime-time ads must be making some coin, which in turn means that grown adults are using their services; despite the insufferable content of said adverts.

One of the more recent “schemescams” is “texting any question” to a premium text line: something a little bit like this. It’s at times like this when I wish I could reach out to the nation and promise them that the internet is NOT WORTH £1 A TEXT. If you would like to know an answer: use Google. If you would like to know an opinion: use a friend, or even a stranger! You’re only paying to ask a combination of those, anyway. If you have a compulsion to ask these “any question” services, you can even do that! This chap is even suggesting you can make money from it, if you can be bothered to set it up.

Though.. if you’re reading this and thinking “maybe I shouldn’t spend my wages on asking an automated service “WHO AM I?!”" for the first time, perhaps suggesting any sort of website control is every so slightly maligned.

Another example of the AWFUL AWFUL NEWS in present-day-advertising is all of this accident helpline crap. “Ruin your working environment by pissing everyone off when you fall over. We won’t charge you a thing unless you win. (If you do win we’ll charge you more than you get and the repo man will take your crutches. Essentially: this is a worm and you are a fish)”.

At the end of the day, I’d much prefer to avoid the large Welsh man scraping what good he can from one of these adverts. Let’s get back to the Marks and Spencer girlies, eh? If you want top notch food, you know you’re in for a treat when you’re salivating before the end of the advert. If you want dresses, lingerie, furniture, or anything else for that matter: that’s what you’ll see advertised. Adverts that aren’t opera singers selling car insurance, or Tigers selling cereal.

With all the new technology we’ve got coming out every 2 seconds, you’d think maybe strategies would change. Ah well. The more things change..

3 Responses to 'FADults'

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