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Lexus To Start Spamming Car Buyers In Their Cars
techmuse writes "Lexus has announced plans to send targeted messages to buyers of its cars based on the buyer's zip code and vehicle type. Unlike regular spam, these messages will be delivered directly to the buyer's vehicle, and will play to the vehicle's occupants as audio. Lexus has promised to make the messages relevant to the car buyers." Imagine the fun that some targeted malware could do — not that such a thing could happen to a Lexus.
Lexus has promised to make the messages relevant to the car buyers.
Genius. Because who is more likely to be ready to buy a new car than someone that just bought a brand new one.
Whale
Have these people lost their minds? I spend $60,000 for an automobile and now it will spam me while driving it? Are you serious, Lexus? What could possibly motivate these people to want to spam their customers AFTER a purchase? We are getting closer and closer to Idiocracy.
Toyota officials promise to be discerning and restrained.
"We're not going to barrage customers with marketing messages," vows Jon Bucci, vice president of Toyota's U.S. advanced technology unit.
Yeah... and cable television will always be uncensored and commercial free... and sattilite radio will always be uncensored and commercial free...
What's that you say? It might be like other software and have occasional security holes in it? I'm sure that won't be a problem.
How long before the first law suit claiming the ad is responsible for whatever driving calamity happened?
I can't believe this made it through a thought/mouth filter.
Take your car back and ask for a refund. Even if you don't get it at least you will have made it very clear to the dealership that you are extremely unhappy and want to take back your business.
Also try to get in touch with someone fairly high up in Toyota's management / marketing at their corporate HQ and explain to them that you will never buy Toyota again and why. In the mean time keep complaining on the Internet and contact the local business / consumer watch-dogs (Better Business Bureau or whatever) and tell them that it was not made clear to you that your information would be used this way and that you are outraged.
It's a lot of work but this crap has to stop.
I'm self-employed and actually work as an advertiser (and I expect to wake up next to a dead horse tomorrow for admitting that here on /.) but I've never been tempted to think up ways to annoy users like this. In fact, I'm of the mind that making customers happy is the best road to success. I know. It's a pretty radical way to think. Give customers what they want, customers pay you and, *gasp*, come back!
I guess I'm old fashioned. I watch all of my colleagues come out with all of these flash ads and flash pop-ups etc. and I scratch my head wondering how these things catch on. I've had good success sticking to clean, simple, non-obtrusive ads and have never received a single complaint. Consequently my web-site user-base and my bottom line grow month after month (who'd'a thunk it!?). I will never understand why people think there is money in pissing people off.
You know...I"ve just never understood this 'critisizm' people try to heap onto people that buy nice luxury or high end sports cars. I mean, sure I guess in some remote cases it is true, but, I have to believe the majority of people do it because they WANT a nice luxury car, they WANT to drive a perrformance car (my category)...and they can afford said 'toys'. Sure a Yugo will get you from point A to point B....but, IMHO, it just won't make the trip as nice, or do it as fast as a good car.
I guess I've just always chalked it up to people that are jealous of people who have extra money to burn, and like the finer things in life. Not everyone feels the need to make everything in live 'utility'...or 'just get by'.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
Yeah, that's why. I drive a silly little car, but when I see a fancy car, I appreciate them. Making up a bunch of silliness about why they have one is just envy I think.
People spend their money on the things they like. When people from my job come to my apartment and see that everything is networked and computerized, they say "my god, how much more do you make than me???" But we all make the same (same contract), and that's just where my values are. They go on 2-month sojourns through the windswept mountains of Kafoonistan; I stream movies from the office to the TV. Mine is still way cheaper, and I enjoy it every day of the year.
But that's values. There's just no reason to criticize other people's "fun."
The guy who just totalled his new car because he was distracted by adverts?
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."