So, at the time of writing, the No. 1 free iPad app and No. 2 free iPhone app is this game. A quiz. About logos.
This seems to be something of a craze at the moment, as it's far from the only title like this available in the App Store, and doubtless there are similar offerings on Android that I can't be arsed to look up right now.
This is what we're reduced to for entertainment now? Seeing how deep the brainwashing of advertising has burrowed into our skulls? I'd argue that scoring highly on one of these quizzes is not anything that we should particularly be proud of, as all it simply proves is that advertising has successfully drilled its way into your subconscious.
The same goes for anyone who uses the word "simples", describes anyone as being "so Money Supermarket" non-ironically or sings that bloody "Go Compare" advert. (If you do the latter, I will likely punch you in the face. If you do the "so Money Supermarket" one, whether or not you get punched in the face will depend entirely on how good your Patrick Stewart impression is.)
The counter-argument to this, of course, is that many of these brands, logos and slogans have transcended their original meanings and become pop culture phenomenons or memes in their own right. And to an extent that's true, but I can't shake off the feeling that these things have been forced into the public consciousness, while true phenomena and memes should grow organically, naturally and without marketing spend. In many cases, they do, of course — look at the Know Your Meme page for Katawa Shoujo or the astonishing popularity of My Little Pony among people that it wasn't originally intended for, for example. But I think we can all agree that anyone who takes an opportunity to sing the Go Compare song is a grade-A arsehole of the highest order.
Perhaps I'm just being grouchy. Or perhaps I'm just fed up with feeling like I can't escape advertising any more. It seems to encroach on my time more and more. It's all over the Internet. I get text messages from lawyers inviting me to seek compensation for the accident I supposedly had (funny, I don't remember it). I get phone calls from twats trying to sell me shit even though I'm registered with the TPS. (Note: this is the main reason I never answer my landline. Call my mobile if you need to speak with me.) I get people knocking on my door trying to sell me double glazing or get me to switch energy suppliers. It's plastered over certain games. It's smeared all over Facebook like festering shit. It encroaches on Twitter occasionally in the form of "Promoted Tweets" and "Promoted Users" — though these are, thankfully, easy to ignore. I even had to remove a Chrome extension yesterday because it was inserting an ad at the bottom of every page I viewed.
Ads allow things to be put out there for free, of course, and without them we'd be having to pay a lot more money for the things that we do, so I guess we should sort of be grateful for them. That said, it doesn't excuse the sleaziness of some ads, particularly on the Internet — take the large "Download" links on software sites, for example, or the "You Have 1 New Message/Virus/Picture" banners you get on mobile apps. Or indeed the "lose 3 tons of belly fat with one weird old tip" thing. (Spoilers: you probably won't, otherwise the world would be talking about it.)
You know what? Thinking about it, I'd actually be happy to pay for more things and have them advertising-free. I pay for Spotify premium and don't have ads. I'll happily pay to remove ads in iOS games I intend to play for more than five minutes. I pay for Netflix and get movies and TV shows without ad breaks. I'd even happily hand over some money to WordPress if it became a premium-only service, such is the excellent use I've got out of it for free over the years.
In short, provide me with a quality product and the means to not be battered around the face with people trying to sell me shit I don't want, and I'll happily hand over some money. Yell "Buy! Buy! Buy!" repeatedly at me with no means of respite and I will, yes, punch you in the face.
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Well said. I've become frustrated at the constant forcing of adverts in nearly everything virtual we interact with on a daily basis. It almost makes those virtual riots against in-game PC advertising kinda humorous… somehow.
iPhone App's do seem to be the worst with forced advertising. It's especially irritating when I enjoy a game's trial, and give the developer my money to fully enjoy their game, only to find myself spammed to death with constant advertisements for the developer's other games. That's a deal-breaker for me. I refuse to purchase anything else from a developer that does business in this way.
Is there an echo in here?? I've been saying this stuff for years – and more so of late. My Bah Humbugness is famous – you should hear me go on about Xmas starting in September! Ads are for muting on the TV, and woe betide if anyone has moved the remote away from me. And even pay TV like Foxtel which originally stated it would be ad-free, is now nothing of the kind. And if you mention it to any of their reps, they point out smugly that 'yes, there are a few ads now, but if they didn't have any you would of course have to pay more for the service'. To use a phrase from a Yellow Pages Ad that has become an idiom in OZ – 'NOT HAPPY JAN!!'
I too refuse to buy products etc if I have been bombarded by useless, annoying, strident ads for them. The ads that just quietly show you the product, suggest its attributes and value, are far more likely to get a response from me. And if they use witty humor, as opposed to slapstick locker-room in-your-face excuse-for-hunour, then they brighten the rest of the dross we have to trawl through.
I love the show, but my friends have taken to calling it "Game of Adverts". Grr.
Got an email alert for this (obviously I work at Brandwatch) and thought – 'oh no, Pete's going to complain about my Brandwatch-related tweets in his feed). Turns out it was just a meta-coincidence.
I once touched Felix between the neck.