Guardian: the fart machine
If there is one thing I’ve learnt from going to numerous social media conferences, including Ragan and Web 2.0 summits, is that this industry has and continues to pin its hopes on advertising. If there’s something else I’ve learnt simply from surfing the web, is that advertising online is so wrong. It still amazes me how this industry spends so much money on trying to get the largest audience possible and spends so little (or obviously not enough) to at least ensure that if you are serving up ads that they at least be a little relevant. Am I asking too much?
As I was reading an article in the Guardian.co.uk site, something was obviously wrong. When I looked at the banner, I realised then that advertising online really does suck. How can a prestigious newspaper with such a notable following permit that its readers abroad be subjected to a banner ad in the most prominent section of the site, to advertise a farting machine of all things!
There are so many examples that I am beginning to worry where this is headed. If the most reputable newspapers claim to understand the intersection of traditional and non traditional and if politicians pay the head of Obama’s campaign to lecture them on best practices, how can they suffer from the same problem? How can our shadow prime minister have adwords with sexy girls chat and madonna’s IQ?
And what do these advertising companies actually do? It’s mind boggling
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Right on target, Nuno. On-line advertising is totally out of tune with the consumers of the media they are displayed on. As a Guardian – and many other serious web sites -, reader I’ve also often wondered why do I have to keep being faced with such silly, if not offensive and even (specially for a woman) diminishing sort of ads. Would it be because, in a way, on-line advertising really does not work? Or does it not work because it is so misplaced? I don’t know…
Thanks for your comment and a great question. Companies are still struggling with the whole concept of advertising and not interrupting. In this case, its a different issue – basically they seem to have syndicated the advertising locally so I guess this is what we Portuguese like to see – 3 naked butts farting. Really makes you want to go out and buy one, or three…
You’re welcome. If it is accurate that they have syndicated the add locally, where did they come up with the idea Portuguese people like to see fating machines? Portuguese
Guardian readers? We must be a handful of highly educated, anglophile elite people… If that is the regard upon which our elite are being taken in consideration, then, it says a lot about us. And I don’t think I like what it means/implies …
well I was actually kind of joking – its not really what they thinlk of us. In fact I received the next day an e-mail from the Guardian:
"Dear Nuno, I'm not sure how this got through, but many thanks for drawing it to our attention. My colleagues in advertising are on the case. Best wishes, Leslie"
Its hard for them to know this – well actually it shouldn't be if you consider that Social Media implies monitoring the web. Anyway they do seem to have a high degree of consideration for their readers – if you go to the Guardian page now their ads are different – pretty impressive.