Blog: Shawn Rogers

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Advertising gone wrong?

Normally I'm a big fan of innovation and technology. But I'm not sure I'd be too happy about this type of interaction with vendors, retailers etc. Recently Land Rover ran a billboard campaign in times square that reached out and touched you in a bluetooth sort of way. What happens is the billboard is outfitted with a bluetooth device that sends text messages to cell phones of people walking by it that say the following:’Land Rover is trying to connect to you via Bluetooth. Accept?’ Your bluetooth device must be in auto discovery mode for the billboard to work on your phone but if you say yes to the initial message you'll find yourself watching a commercial for the Land Rover LR3’s GPS navigating a cargo plane from France to Corsica plus you will get an invitation to visit their website.

I'm not sure I'm comfortable with where this could lead. I have also changed the setting on my phone to stop this from happening. What are your thoughts? Weird or cool?

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