Dumb Ad Medium of the Day

Just when you thought there was no virgin ad space left (fresh fruit, babies, town names), today’s adrants gives props to what I’ll call “the new advertising medium gimmick of the day.” Ready folks: parking lot stripes (“special strips containing ad messages right over existing parking lot lines”) and escalator hand rails (“There’s not much to do while riding an escalator so you might as well look at ads on the handrail”)! Genius. While the folks behind these innovations are probably basking in their cleverness, I can’t help but continue to wonder: Why does the ad industry continue to saturate consumers with more clutter? Don’t they realize they’re the ones guilty of breeding the indifferent-ADD-consumer in the first place with, um, too much clutter (check out Doug Rushkoff’s Frontline: The Persuaders)? Where are the big ideas — as opposed to these band-aid attempts at healing?