They've Invaded Our Brains!!!

Okay, okay, okay. I know my usual position on creative advertising is, "Awesome! Wow! Gosh, that's really neat-o!", but not today. Today, thanks to a startling post from MarketingProfs DailyFix Blog I am not awed by the innovation of marketers, but rather terrified of it. Why you might ask? Simple. They've invaded our brains.


That's right. Marketers have begun delivering content directly into the head of consumers via new technology known as hypersonic sound. As detailed in this article at Wired Magazine, the hypersonic messaging works by delivering audio in a narrowly focused beam. Unless you are directly in the path of the beam, you will not hear the message. In other words, the one precious part of our selves which only we have access to can be broken into and filled with strange voices urging us to buy something or eat something or watch something on TV.

Can this be real? I mean, doesn't it sound like something out of science fiction? Worse yet, there's no legal precedent for this kind of activity, and since I watch a ton of Law & Order I know that having a legal precedent is key when dealing with a violation of someone's rights. So this type of invasive marketing will probably continue to exist until someone files a lawsuit against the company doing it which could take years to happen.

Needless to say, it's a strange new world in which we live and sometimes I just can't help but get the heebie-jeebies. Anybody else out there with me on this?