Dispatch from an advertising future #167

https://www.engadget.com/bird-community-safety-zones-pilot-181559087.html You’re grounded. No, I’m sorry, it’s for your own good. Rules are rules. You knew what we’d said and you chose to ignore it. Fine. Consequences. One week. We’re not going to lock everything, just your games and social. You can still call and message us – and we can reach you! But, no. …

Dispatch from an advertising future #158

https://gizmodo.com/deep-nostalgia-can-now-make-old-photos-of-your-relati-1846620089 I didn’t mind when she smiled. We’d been apart for so long, catching her smile was a reminder of The Before. She’d always been there, her quiet hint of a smile was an acknowledgement, an encouragement. Having her picture on the shelf wasn’t the same as having her here but those little signals, they …

Dispatch from an advertising future #152

https://www.ft.com/content/c653e977-435f-4553-8401-9fa9b0faf632 My mum was worried when I first got her. I was only little of course and she’d read the scare stories about grooming and hacking the smart home. I’m sure she had visions of a Chucky-doll turning the thermostat up and watching us boil. She calmed down after a while, particularly when my grades …

Dispatch from an advertising future #125

https://www.warc.com/newsandopinion/news/share-of-search-can-predict-market-share/44232 They’d decided early on to get her one. The more she’d be able to say she knew or at least demonstrate she could find, the better. At the start of New Schooling, they’d been expensive but then the Company offered them for free. Her ‘learning facilitator’ was impressed with her SoS (speed of search). …

Dispatch from an advertising future #119

https://www.vox.com/the-goods/21459677/tiktok-house-la-hype-sway-girls-in-the-valley Dear Mum. Don’t worry, I’m here. I told you it would be OK. I was right about this place. It’s amazing. The decorations are crazy, they look so good on camera. There’s mad furniture, a gym and I get to pick how my room looks and they just sort it. And the equipment? There’s …

Dispatches from an advertising future #105

https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/15/researchers-ready-world-first-vision-restoration-device-for-human-clinical-trials/?guccounter=1 It was his birthday. They remembered the doctor, five years ago. He’d be able to see, she said. The operation was simple and free. The sponsored Glimpses (™) were not invasive, she told them. The Reith act meant they had to “educate, inform or entertain”. And, she said, she had good news. Previous patients …