When it comes to advertising, how far is too far? Marketers' continuing quest to get their commercial messages through the vast clutter of ads is moving to new heights. There have been recent stories
about ads on pregnant bellies and tattooed on foreheads. With the advent of product placement, ads have snuck their way into movies, TV shows, novels and Broadway plays. This month, US Airways plans
to sell ad space on air-sickness bags. In the fall, a laser-imprinted CBS eye logo and slogan will appear on eggs in major markets, as the network launches 35 million "egg-vertisements" to generate
publicity for its fall TV lineup. Newspapers like
The Wall Street Journal and others recently announced plans to print ads on their front pages. "It's hard to imagine where advertising doesn't
appear nowadays," says Erik Gordon, a Johns Hopkins University marketing professor. "You can make an argument that the whole world has become an ad. Nothing is sacred anymore. It even appears in my
dreams--my bad dreams."
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