Commercials in 2022: The Year of the Consumer

With the help of such location-based technologies such as Foursquare, people everywhere are leaving digital trails of where they been and who they were with from their smart phones. For many, it is a fun way to interact with other friends and contribute to the ever-growing social media climate. For marketers and ad agencies, it means knowing what to advertise to you and when. 

In such films as Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report, similar technologies are depictedthat direct ads in the mall towards those passing by, scanning their pupils for identification.  Although an extreme depiction of the future, are we really that far off? For a second, allow me to transplant myself to 2022, and describe a day in which these location-based technologies are being utilized, and governing our daily lives.

 My day begins with an alarm on my cell phone. Having checked into my house location and my work location, I am automatically awakened with enough allotted times for my morning commute, including the option to stop at my favorite café for coffee. Also, having established a predictable routine for myself, offers that I would be inclined to use that day are sent every morning. 

By now, the act of checking in has become obsolete; stores now have kiosks that scan the information from our smart phones upon entering a store, similar to the security partitions that exist today. Then, during my morning commute my phone will alert me of the various cafes in route that my profile would lead to believe I would enjoy.

While driving, I pass numerous billboards. Outside of the vehicle, these billboards are blank. However, inside the vehicle, these boards come to life through my windshield, and speak to me as I drive, suggesting this restaurant or that product. Also, our phones aren’t the only medium for which these ads are presented. Our cars, computers, and even televisions will be used to deliver the advertising to us. Our cell phones will serve more as GPS trackers, profiling our locations throughout a given day.

Once at work, I am contently productive until lunch. Upon approaching this hour, I begin to receive specials and coupons from businesses around the area, enticing me to choose them for lunch that particular day. Similarly, at the end of the work day, I am bombarded with Happy Hour Specials for bars that are on my commuter route. 

Having survived the day thus far, I return home for the evening. It’s soon dinner time, so again, come the ads for local restaurant and even recipe ideas with where to find said ingredients.

After dinner, I begin to watch some television. In between the scheduled programming, is when the customized ads air. There is not one commercial presented, that my profile would have not indicated would pertain to me. Each individual will have customized commercials targeted specifically towards him or her. And if two individuals are watching television, the ads will cater to both parties, without the other’s ads contradicting their own. 

Eventually, I go to bed, only to start the next day the same exact way again. For the time spent sleeping will be the only way to escape from the omnipresence of advertising, for the time being at least. 

For now, I will be more productive, and I will consume. 

- Joseph Mountz