Pop Up Ads in Space

modder writes "A Russian inventor has patented ads in space. Shouldn't this violate some sort of International Space Law?" Remember the first time your dad took you out at 1am into the backyard with a telescope? With Your kids the conversation will be something like "Follow the Swoosh to Arcturus, Drive a Spike to the AT&T Logo"

Comments

The Man Who Sold The Moon

[Metryq]

This sounds like the "carbon powder rocket to the moon" perversity mentioned in Heinlein's "The Man Who Sold The Moon." I can imagine some companies running more discreet ads that they paid to keep the skies clear.

Will This Really Be Useful?

[jrduncans]

"People would be able to see writing in the skies from the Earth no worse than they see the stars," he said.

I know I can barely see the stars at all in the city. Is this only going to work to advertise to rural areas?

You'll get used to it.

[brejc8]

I remember some friends describing a trip to the then USSR and saying that Moscow is very dull and gray but they couldnt put their finger on why. They eventually realised that there was no advertising. More recently when they saw some footage of some Moscow riots there were loads of adverts plastered all over the place they commented how much nicer the place looks with bright colours and lights.

Im sure we will have the same situation in the future where you go for a holiday in some poorer country and complain that the space just looks balck and boring.

Look at it this way....

[BigGar']

The patent will expire before he's ever able to make it a reality.

Re:It won't. Americans need it.

[MotherInferior]

You're putting too much thought into it.

My point is that the actual quality of the product is irrelevant. Its value, for most folks, is determined not by quality but by perceived value. What does everyone else think about this product? To wit, a Gucci/Versace/Prada bag is not valuable because of how long it lasts/how well it performs but because it will get you [insert laudatory expression] from your [insert peer-group expression]. Or, it will get you [insert copulatory expression].

Perhaps it would have been better to use a non-geek example. Geeks tend to go to the other extreme. They have a habit of wearing fringe products like medals, if there is any real quality to the product. I.e. quality (to the exclusion of perceived value) is king.

So, in geek circles, the nGage sucks because, well, it just sucks as a product. The iPod is cool because, well, it does its job, and then some. Within Geekworld, these products' perceived values are (as they should be) based on their quality. Geeks are hardly mainstream, though. Outside Geekworld you'd be hard pressed to find someone who could give you a substantial reason for saying that the nGage sucks. Or that the iPod is cool. For most Americans, value is based on the tenuous (and highly manipulable) network of popular consensus. In essence, the marketing world is providing a kind of spritual leadership for the public consciousness.

Re:When will it stop?

[sjames]

The problem isn't so much the ads, it's the intrusiveness of advertisers.

For example, ads in malls are fine by me. The mall is a place specifically built for commerce, so it's to be expected. The Radio provides programming in return for the listener accepting ads. For me, it's not a worthwhile trade, so I don't bother with the radio.

Billboards should be restricted to developed commercial/industrial zones. Billboards along a highway shouldn't be.

As a side note, I do not buy clothes with big logos and designer names on them. I prefer unmarked clothes, but will accept those with an easily removed lable.

Telephone solicitation and spam are right out. The national do-not-call list was IMHO an excellent step in the right direction, I just wish it had happened 10 years ago.