#13: You Can’t Escape Advertising
The elephant in (almost) every room
You ever hear a saying or words of wisdom that really hit home? Something that deeply connects with you and makes you think.
“Why yes. It happens every time I read a Relentlessly Curious post.”
Oh gosh, that’s so kind of you.
Just kidding! It’s April Fool’s Day, so I felt compelled to sneak in a joke. Back to the blurb.
“Pay attention to what you pay attention to.”
That’s the one-liner that does it for me. I heard this quote a few years ago (I can’t remember from whom or where, but if I had to guess, it was probably during one of my YouTube rabbit hole expeditions) and I can confidently say it has changed my life. Thanks to these words of wisdom, I’ve become much more self-aware.
One thing that I’ve been paying attention to lately is how often I’m targeted by advertisements. Most of the time, I don’t consciously realize I’m being targeted either. I live in New York City, which is certainly at the extreme end of the spectrum for advertising density, but there are countless ways advertisers find you in the suburbs too.
So, as a city dweller, I figured I’d track all the advertisements I come across during my typical weekday.
…
Alarm goes off. It’s a digital clock, so there isn’t a major stimulation from technology to start the day. I deliberately use a digital clock instead of my phone so I’m not reaching for a handful of notifications to kick off my waking existence. No ads yet.
I proceed to crawl out of bed and open the blinds. There it is, the first ad of the day: in the distance lies a digital billboard flashing an ad for a grocery store. That grocery store got me good!
Next, I walk over to the bathroom and open my vanity closet. Brand names from Colgate to Origins to Highland Style (shout out to their glacial cream). Not advertisements, but product packaging is a great way for people to subconsciously acknowledge your brand in everyday moments.
And now it’s time.
Time to check the phone and confirm the weather before I get dressed.
Boom. There they are. More advertisements. From push notifications to emails to texts, there’s so many ways the apps on my phone compete for my attention. A couple of push notifications contain ads, such as an UberEats promo or a limited-time discount for a Lyft ride. Oh, I can’t forget the ads that show up at the top of my Gmail feed. I swear, HelloFresh is everywhere.
Okay, I’m out the door and walking to the nearest bike rack to commute to work. I grabbed a Citibike (which is an advertisement in itself) and cycled over to the office. Through my peripherals, I pick up physical billboards, digital billboards on taxis, and large static pictures adjacent to bus stop benches. And that does not include all the storefront signs I passed by too!
Furthermore, I hop off the Citi bike at a rack near the office. Immediately, I got another push notification from Lyft that my ride has ended. As I complete the commute via foot, I open Instagram and scroll the feed. I see ads for Cuts Clothing and Ten Thousand right away.
As long as I don’t check my phone, I’m mostly safe from ads when I’m at the office. However, if I peruse over to ESPN to check my March Madness bracket, I’m hit with an onslaught of retail media placements across the home page. Leave me alone, Apple, Disney, and a no-name suede leather shoe brand - I don’t know how it can afford a placement on espn.com.
Guess what? ESPN isn’t even that ad littered. Head over to Amazon, and you’ll be bewildered. I’m regularly on amazon.com for work purposes and see an ad on every single page of the website. From the home page to search results to product pages, Amazon is an advertising goliath.
Fast forward - I head out for a midday stroll to clear my head. On my walk, I pass a group of college-age kids badgering people to sign up for a cause, a man holding an Empire State Building tourism sign, and QR codes on street poles. Plenty more ads.
Moving along. The workday is coming to an end, and I leave the office. After taking no more than one hundred steps outside, I noticed a new stamp on the sidewalk, advertising for a summertime concert. Another ad. Then I hop on a bike back home and saw dozens more ad placements. Why am I acting like I’m surprised at this point?
I make it home and now it’s time for a gym session. No ads here. What a beautiful escape. However, the luxury brand name drops (Maybach) in one of the rap songs I was listening to may count as an ad.
After the gym, it’s time to eat dinner and finish some work. An appreciated ad-free period.
As I wind down and aim to relax, I’m hit with a stream of ads. From the beginning, middle, and end of YouTube videos, to regular YouTube TV commercials, and even strategic product placements in Netflix shows (looking at you, Coca-Cola), ads are everywhere screens are.
…
Wow, that was a lot of ads. And for the sake of your time, I didn’t detail everything I saw (not to mention all the ads I didn’t recognize consciously but were influenced by). What fascinates me is the diversity of advertisements. Both in real life and digital, the sheer number of different types of ad placements from lower-funnel (designed to get you to take an action now) to upper-funnel (brand awareness) was impressive.
If you live in the suburbs, you may not see the dramatic density of ads that I do every day, but there are plenty of places where your attention is attempted to be captured.
Riddle me this – consider a trip to the grocery store.
You hop in your car and perhaps there’s an ad in the center console (car retail media networks may be the next big thing). As you drive to the store, you see signs and billboards that look to sell you something. And then while you are grocery shopping, countless brands have tags and offers throughout the store to get you to bite on their product.
I do wonder how seeing all this advertising affects my subconscious brain; marketers are smart people, they know how to grab your attention through carefully crafted pictures, videos, and phrases to encourage you to take specific action. Sometimes they use positive signals such as “Buy One Get One Free”, but other times they use negative signals like “Don’t Regret Missing Out on the Sale”. Some days, I wonder if I should stay inside for the sake of sensory regulation. But then I realize the advertisers will find me on my phone, TV, and the product packaging that sits all throughout my apartment.
I don’t anticipate the number of ads we come across in my day-to-day life decreasing any time soon. Nevertheless, it certainly makes me appreciate going to the beach or venturing on a hike a little more. The ads will have a harder time finding me there.