choof.org
Welcome to choof.org. Unfair. Unbalanced.
Trent
Reznor
Nine Inch Nails
Emma
Goldman
Emma Goldman
Che
Guevara
Che Guevara
James
Joyce
James Joyce
Huey
Newton
To Die for the People
Ride the
clipper
The Sexist Clipper
Adbusters Adbusters
Buy! Shop!
UGA SGA
Archive
UGA SGA
An
Organization
Archive
An Organization
E-mail
Chris
E-mail Chris

More Links

Reenhead
Memepool
Robot Wisdom
Daily Rotten
Boing Boing
Politechbot
Declan's Pics
Cryptome
Richard Stallman
Seth Schoen
Earth Liberation Front
Lisa Rein's Radar
How Appealing
Stay Free
Mary Hodder
Bad Ads Weblog
Commercial Alert
Ponderance
Adrian Pritchett
Jenny Toomey
Simson Garfinkel

Archive

November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003












Choof.org "News"

November 22, 2003

Letter to Metro Board

I sent the following letter in response to calls for ubiquitous advertising in the D.C. Metro. For background, see this Post article.

Jim Graham
1350 Penn. Ave NW #406
Washington, DC 20004

Dear Council Member Graham,

I write in regard to Metro's consideration of expanding advertising on trains and tunnels. The Washington Post reported on November 14 that Metro officials were considering turning "rail cars and busses into rolling billboards" and hanging "video monitors inside trains to broadcast commercials."

As a daily passenger on Metrorail and Ward 1 DC homeowner, I strongly oppose these plans. I would like express this opposition in person, but my understanding is that there is no public comment at the Board meetings. Accordingly, I have included my arguments below.

Metro should not expand advertisers' access to passengers for the following reasons: advertising will debase the Metro system, and passengers will be captive to the advertising. However, if it is expanded, Metro should not allow advertising of alcohol, tobacco, prescription drugs, or advertising to children; it should prohibit audio advertising, and develop a system to address future budget shortfalls that are followed by calls for more invasive advertising. Finally, if Advertising is expanded, Metro should develop plans to remove the advertisements once the agency is on firmer financial grounds.

Advertising Debases Public Symbols

Advertising debases public space and symbols. Recognizing this, a number of American institutions shield important national symbols from advertising. For example, the U.S. Senate's Ethical Rules discriminate against advertising use of Senate grounds near the Capitol. "…Senate rooms are available only for Senate related business…no products may be sold on the premises or displayed for future sale; and Senate space may not be used for any…commercial, promotional or profit-making purpose whatsoever."[1] Advertising on Senate grounds is unlawful under the U.S. Code: "A person may not carry out any of the following activities in the Grounds: (1) offer or expose any article for sale. (2) display a sign, placard, or other form of advertisement. (3) solicit fares, alms, subscriptions, or contributions."[2]

Similar protections exist for symbols of deliberative democracy. The Seal of the U.S. Senate, under ethical rules, cannot be used to convey the message that government has endorsed some commercial interest.[3] In fact, advertising use of the Seals of the United States violates a statute with criminal sanctions:

"Whoever knowingly displays any printed or other likeness of the great seal of the United States…in, or in connection with, any advertisement…for the purpose of conveying, or in a manner reasonably calculated to convey, a false impression of sponsorship or approval by the Government of the United States or by any department, agency, or instrumentality thereof, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both." [4]

The National Park Service strictly limits advertising on public lands which it manages for public benefit:

"Commercial notices or advertisements shall not be displayed, posted, or distributed on federally owned or controlled lands within a park area unless prior written permission has been given by the Superintendent. Such permission may be granted only if the notice or advertisement is of goods, services, or facilities available within the park area and such notices and advertisements are found by the Superintendent to be desirable and necessary for the convenience and guidance of the public."[5]

Similar rules exist for important government buildings, such as the Smithsonian Institution, where all photography for commercial or advertising purposes is prohibited,[6] and all commercial advertising and soliciting is prohibited.[7]

Recently, the National Football League held a public event on the National Mall where "product sponsorship" was liberally allowed. Public reaction to this commercial use of the Mall was negative. The Washington Post Editorial Board lamented:

And so onto the Mall -- a space that, as the National Park Service observes, is as old as the capital city itself, one commissioned by George Washington and planned by Pierre L'Enfant to be an "ideal stage for national expressions of remembrance, observance and protest" -- comes now Pepsi Vanilla, the National Football league, and Coors beer. Is this the beginning, or will it be, mercifully, the beginning of the end for a trend out of control?"[8]

Metro should heed the Post's warning, and end this out of control trend. The Washington public transportation system is admired nationwide. The Metrorail stations are works of stunning architectural beauty. But more importantly, the transportation system is a public symbol of progress and good government service. We should not debase this public resource with additional advertisements beyond the limited space that is currently allocated for commercials.

Advertising on Trains and in Tunnels is Coercive

Coercive advertising is advertising that the viewer cannot avoid. Individuals can turn off a TV or radio to avoid advertising, but when one depends on Metro for transportation to work, advertisements in the system become coercive. Many of us do not have private vehicles, nor can we afford to take taxicabs to and from work. As Justice Douglas once noted in a 1952 case involving audio advertisements on DC streetcars, "Compulsion which comes from circumstances can be as real as compulsion which comes from a command."[9] Furthermore, it is clear from advertising plans that Metro intends to leave no surface uncovered with commercial messaging. Accordingly, the Metro provides a captive and coerced audience for advertisers.

Individuals should be free from coercive advertising, because this form of propaganda is a powerful tool that is used to influence us. One can simply read an issue of Advertising Age to see that advertising industry has long been a proponent of manipulation of the public mind.[10] Some advertisers refer to their trade as an exercise in "mass hypnosis."[11] The leading minds of the advertising industry have even argued that ads can create "false memories," and convince the public that they had an enjoyable experience at a restaurant, for instance, when they really did not.[12] Advertisers want captive audiences so that they effectively influence individuals' thoughts. It is unfair to hold passengers captive to these messages.

Advertising, if Expanded, Should Be Subject to Accountability

Since Metro passengers would be captive to advertising, it is important that the Board set the highest standards of accountability for commercial messaging. Products that are harmful, including alcohol and tobacco, should not be advertised. Neither should products from industries that have a historical record of false advertising. For instance, drug advertising should not be permitted.[13]

There should be a flat prohibition on advertising directed at children. Children are captive to advertisements on the Metro just as adults are. But, children often lack the critical thinking skills to separate advertising from official endorsement, or advertising from news content.

Advertising strategy towards children is riddled with language that suggest goals of manipulation and the creation of ubiquitous advertising environments. Until recently, the children's advertising groups held an award ceremony to honor ad writers who wrote pitches that were the best at "hooking" children. Words such as "infiltrate"[14] are used to describe the goals of commercial interests in placing advertisements in schools. Furthermore, researchers have demonstrated links between advertising to children and obesity, violent behavior, and materialistic values.[15] Because many children have to ride Metro to get to and from school, and because the advertising industry is competing to "infiltrate" their lives, Metro should not allow advertising to children in the transportation system.

Metro should never adopt audio advertising. When in a captive situation, audio advertising invades individuals' privacy, disrupts conversations, and makes it difficult to read, sleep, or enjoy a quiet moment. Again, I quote Justice Douglas objecting to radio programming and advertising on DC streetcars:

If liberty is to flourish, government should never be allowed to force people to listen to any radio program. The right of privacy should include the right to pick and choose from competing entertainments, competing propaganda, competing political philosophies. If people are let alone in those choices, the right of privacy will pay dividends in character and integrity. The strength of our system is in the dignity, the resourcefulness, and the independence of our people. Our confidence is in their ability as individuals to make the wisest choice. That system cannot flourish if regimentation takes hold. The right of privacy, today violated, is a powerful deterrent to any one who would control men's minds.[16]

Metro must also consider how it will avoid sliding down a slippery slope where adopting new, more invasive advertising technologies becomes a necessity when there are future budget shortfalls. Two technologies are worth foreshadowing here that could create a bad environment for passengers:

First, "HyperSonic Sound" (HSS) is a technology that allows a person to direct a beam of sound at an individual.[17] Whereas normal audio advertising can be avoided through earplugs, HSS is directed and concentrated. As a result, it literally feels as though the sound is inside in the individual's head. HSS is already being used for coercive advertising in Asia.

Second, Radio Frequency ID, or RFID, is a technology that allows tagging of individuals, identification cards, or products. It can enable "personalized" advertisements, much like the speaking billboards in the movie Minority Report.

Metro must consider how it can ward off these privacy invasive technologies at times where there are future budget difficulties.

Finally, Metro should develop a plan to remove advertisements when the budget is healthier. Advertising should not have a permanent, pervasive presence in the Metro.

Thank you for your consideration of these issues. If I can provide further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Chris Jay Hoofnagle




















[1] Use of Senate Space, Senate Ethics Manual, 108th Congress, 1st Session, 2003, p. 110, available at http://ethics.senate.gov/downloads/pdffiles/manual.pdf.
[2] 40 U.S.C. § 5104(c) (2003).
[3] Great Seal, Senate Seal, on campaign documents, Senate Ethics Manual, 108th Congress, 1st Session, 2003, p. 151, available at http://ethics.senate.gov/downloads/pdffiles/manual.pdf.
[4] 18 U.S.C. § 713(a) (2003).
[5] Advertising, 36 C.F.R. § 5.1 (2003).
[6] Photographs for news, advertising, or commercial purposes, 36 C.F.R. § 504.11 (2003).
[7] Soliciting, vending, debt collection, and distribution of handbills, 36 C.F.R. § 504.8 (2003).
[8] Marketing the Mall, Washington Post, September 3, 2003, at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17178-2003Sep2.html.
[9] DC PUC v. Pollak, 343 U.S. 451 (1952)(Douglas, J. dissenting).
[10] "One thing everyone can believe: Whether it's about agency billings and income or high-stakes geopolitical strategy, disinformation is part of the communications arsenal. Efforts to confuse, misdirect, mislead or confound a public are part of today's world." Defining disinformation dispensers, Advertising Age, October 20, 1986, p. 17.
[11] Inger L. Stole, Selling Advertising: The U.S. Advertising Industry and its Public Relations Activities, 1932-1945, Dissertation, Ph.D. in Mass Communication. U. Wisconsin-Madison, 1998, p 181.
[12] "A group of US marketing researchers claim that brand owners can make their customers believe they had a better experience of a product or service than they really did by bombarding them with positive messages after the event." Selling you a new past, The Independent, October 23, 2003, at http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/media/story.jsp?story=455650.
[13] Investigators Find Repeated Deception in Ads for Drugs, New York Times, December 12, 2002, at http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/04/health/04DRUG.html
[14] Carrie MacMillan, Readin', writin', and sellin', Promo Magazine, Sept. 1, 2002.
[15] See e.g. Facts About the Effects of Advertising and Marketing to Children, at http://www.commercialexploitation.com/articles/congressional_briefing_facts.htm
[16] Pollak, 343 U.S. at 469.
[17] The Sound of Things to Come, The New York Times, March 23, 2003, at http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/23/magazine/23SOUND.html.

Posted by chris at November 22, 2003 02:57 PM

Comments

Post a comment














Archive | Pictures

Creative Commons License
This weblog is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Powered by
Movable Type 3.11