Very Direct Advertising?
For as much as I like to pretend that I’m not influenced by advertising and that I only pay attention to media hype that I’m truly looking for, this was one of those subtle reminders that our subconscious is ever-present.
I was typing an e-mail to a friend in El Salvador and there was a word that I didn’t know how to spell. So I jumped onto a free-translation site and did a quick translation from English to Spanish so that I could get the correct spelling.
Then just as I was exiting the tab, my mind was like: “Whoa, hold on! Did you see that? I think there was a customized ad that knows I am Mormon.“ That’s incredible.
Unfortunately I had already closed the page.
But I was curious to know what was being promoted and wanted to investigate how they knew my name and religion. I went back to check and sure enough, the ad was there again. A scripted chat about “faith” from mormon.org has a conversation with a guy named Zack. (See the screen shot on the above.)
So it wasn’t a customized ad for me afterall but it still gave me two things to think about:
- Props to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for being proactive with non-traditional media advertising for a church. Public awareness generates interest and a great chance to answer questions.
- I saw that ad and comprehended part of its message without even “looking” at it. I wonder what other influences and impressions we receive without being aware that they are captured?
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