Captive Audience

I got stuck on the TTC.   Again.  

This time there was a passenger alarm activated.  I don't know what that means, but it better have been serious because I once again sweated through another dress shirt.  At this rate I am going to need to invest in a new wardrobe or botox treatments. 

This time I tried to look on the bright side.  The delay meant I got to spend time with my fellow Torontonians.  I got to experience my fellow man.  Unfortunately, the fellow next to me was listening to his iPod way too loud and man did it cause me to want to strangle him.

In order to not strangle him, I proceeded to shuffle around until I was far enough away so I could hear myself think.  Lo and behold I was left in front of the stupidest thing I have ever seen.

It was an ad to help problem gamblers.  I stared at it in disbelief.  Let's see if you have the same reaction I did.

The ad is here (go take a look I will wait)

http://safeorsorry.ca/pdf/SafeorSorryPrintMaterials2012.pdf

So what was wrong with the ad?

First, it seems like a safe sex ad.  Is it not even clear that it is a problem gambling ad right away.  Why did they name it hearts?  That just further complicates things.  I mean who gambles on hearts?

But that is not why it is an idiotic ad.  I was able to figure out it was an ad for problem gambling.  Then I read the fine print on the bottom where it says "Take our quiz online for a chance at a home entertainment system."

So let me get this straight.  You want to reach a bunch of problem gamblers.  You presumably want to get them to realise that gambling is something they should consciously avoid.  So you lure them to your site by getting them to engage in a contest where they have a chance at winning a prize.  You get them to give up gambling by getting them to gamble.  Seriously?

Does Jenny Craig get people to sign up for diets by offering a discount for all members at KFC?

Maybe the theory is that the quiz will be like methadone for heroin users.  Or maybe the people behind preventing gambling are just stupid idiots.  I suspect it is the latter.

I started to look around me and realised that the TTC is the only place where I am forced to see ads.  With all the signal delays I am literally stuck looking at ads for hours at a time.  There is nothing I can do.  I can't fast forward, I can't switch the channel, I don't want to look my fellow man in the eye. 

I am truly a captive audience. 

One  would think that this should mean that the ads would be amazing.  The TTC should have Superbowl quality ads.  My morning commute should be a wonderful experience where I get the best that the ad world has to offer.

Instead, I get ads for non-profit entities which paradoxically probably serve to make the problem they are trying to solve worse.

It was too much for me.  It all hit me at once.  The ad was a microcosm of the world around  us where things are being done with no sense of purpose and no actual intent.  I cried out at the utter insanity of it all. 

No one noticed. 

The other passengers just continued to bob along to the music on their iPods, oblivious to the world around them.