Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"Consumers' viewing and reading habits are so scattershot now that many advertisers say the best way to reach time-pressed consumers is to try to catch their eye at literally every turn," the New York Times writes. Subsequently, ads are turning up in the strangest places: airport security lines, subway turnstiles -- even chicken eggs. "Ubiquity is the new exclusivity," said ad executive Linda Kaplan Thaler. "Alternative media" ad spending totaled $387 million in 2006, up from $24 million in 2000. One market research firm "estimates that a person living in a city 30 years ago saw up to 2,000 ad messages a day, compared with up to 5,000 today." And "more is on the horizon," including video screens in doctors' offices, taxicabs and elevators. Ad executive Connie Garrido said non-traditional advertising is "very good for awareness because it's out there, it's in your face, and you can blanket a marketplace. ... It's one of the last mass mediums."
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