Advertisements That “Know” You

In Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi film “Minority Report“, advertisements scan your eyes to identify you and pull up your profile, then tailor the advertisement to suit your personal tastes. “Good afternoon, Mr. Yakamoto,” says a smiling Gap employee on a giant flat-screen monitor. “How did you like that three-pack of tank tops you bought last time you were in?” As this article describes, the interactive ads depicted in Minority Report are already here…minus the eye scanning. For the past five years, the company Thinking Pictures, has been working to create interactive movie posters, known as ThinkPix Smart Displays. These posters are dazzling some moviegoers but knowing that the posters may be looking back makes others uncomfortable. Aside from capturing the attention of passersby more readily, movie studios hope to collect marketing information, such as how often their posters and trailers were shown, how many people approached them, how close they got, how long they watched, etc. Eventually the posters may acquire more specific data on individual consumers’ tastes by reading electronic “smart cards” that patrons would receive by volunteering information about themselves and their film habits in return for discounts. Will most people find such a system too intrusive and disquieting, or will they really not mind so long as there’s perks involved? Considering how many consumers use their discount shopping cards without a second thought, there is every reason to believe that this technology will indeed catch on.