The world of advertisement seems to be in a bit of a tailspin these days with roughly one billion people world-wide using social media more often than they watch television. For modern “Mad Men,” to say this has presented a tedious challenge would be an understatement. This rings true even more for small businesses who initiate their own marketing tactics.
As customers duck and dodge advertisements, one designer in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada devised a gadget straight out of Orwell’s “1984” to combat this apathy. Niklas Roy, tech-ad designer, came up with an idea: his ads would stalk customers until they had no choice but to pay attention. Shop owners in Sherbrooke utilized his services by installing generic ‘for rent’ signs embedded with surveillance cameras.
The sign is connected to a rail that senses the motion of pedestrians outside the window and moves with them as they walk down the sidewalk. Inside, the sign is connected to a laptop that shows live video feed of passersby. The software monitors pedestrians until they give the sign attention. The project, although creepy, is rather innovative.
This would just annoy me to the point where I’d boycott the store, which I’m pretty certain is the exact opposite intended response.
ANNOOOOOOOYING in my opinion!