Posted 26th June 2001

Advertising Offensives Offensive

The GAP Widens On Monday, June 18th Gap unveiled a new promotional display at stores nationwide. Faded black jeans hanging in front of an anarchist-red banner, the words "INDEPENDENCE," "FREEDOM," and "WE THE PEOPLE" scrawled across display windows in fake black spray paint. Despite the fact that Gap makes their clothes in sweatshops, and have been subject to many demonstrations across the nation, they believe that the growing movement against corporate power is now large enough to begin marketing on. Now the protest itself can be essentially sold to consumers as an image. However ridiculous this new marketing scheme seems at first, due to the tremendous power of corporate advertising over consumers, Gap just might pull it off, trivializing the movement against free trade, and selling jeans at the same time. The effect that this new marketing could have on the movement is tremendous. If Gap succeeds, it will mean that every protest that is staged will be building on their new image, in effect turning protestors and activists into living, walking ads for Gap.

Further, if Gap succeeds it may become a trendsetter, and other corporations might follow. Currently, the majority of consumers are unaware of how Gap stands on "independence" and "freedom." Gap inc. is the corporation under which Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republic exist. All three companies have been notorious for paying sweatshop workers as little as 11 cents per hour in the third world, denying them basic health care and the right to form unions, as well as harassing, beating and forcing contraceptives on them. Sweatshop workers generally work 12-14 hour days (although sometimes 24) and can be as young as 12 years old. Although many of Gap's clothes say "Made in USA" they are actually produced in Saipan, a US territory where normal US labor laws do not exist. The Fisher Family that owns Gap also owns Mendicino Redwood Company, an active logging company that is deforesting the valuable redwood forests in Mendicino County, California. The Fisher family also has a notorious reputation for lobbying for privatizion of education and other public works in their home state of California. It appears that to Gap inc., "Freedom" and "Independence" only applies to the market, not the people.

Webjunk Out of nowhere they appear and quickly sweep across your computer screen. Sometimes they're unstoppable. There's nothing subtle about this new wave in Internet advertising. Marketers anxious to get their names noticed are coming up with promotions that are far more obvious _ many say obnoxious _ to anyone surfing the Web. They're getting attention, but maybe not the attention desired. Some consumers are so annoyed by the aggressive tactics that they say they will never buy from companies using them. ``The first time, an ad may be cute to look at, but after the 10th time, it sure isn't,'' said Mike Pollock, a 36-year-old New Yorker who spends as many as eight hours a day online. The last year has been a bumpy one for online advertising. The slowing economy and failure of many dot-com businesses have significantly dampened revenue growth, and many established companies cut back their online ad budgets. "The industry is going through a tough time, and many sites are lucky to sell a fraction of their ad space,'' said Patrick Keane, senior analyst at Jupiter Media Matrix, a New York-based online consulting and tracking firm. ``As a result, people are willing to push the creative envelope a bit.'' X10 Wireless Technology Inc. did just that with a relentless ad campaign for its tiny $80 wireless video camera. When a user goes to one of the many sites where X10 advertises, its ad immediately opens underneath the browser. When the browser is later closed, the ad appears and the user is forced to close it separately.Virtually overnight, the ``pop-under'' campaign made X10 a recognized name. According to the online research firm NielsenNetRatings, the company had 388,000 unique visitors to its Web site in January. Nielsen, which estimates that X10's pop-under campaign began in late winter, said the number of unique visitors in May was 3.5 million.

Yet not everyone is thrilled with X10's practices. Internet chat rooms buzz with angry Web users who want to know how to disengage the ad. Numerous articles have been written on ways to make the ads go away. Even the company's Web site informs consumers how to turn off the ad for 30 days at a time. ``It is a tightrope they are walking on,'' said Peggy O'Neill, an analyst at NielsenNetRatings in Milpitas, Calif. ``They have made a name for themselves in a short hurry, and that's impressive. But there is also a backlash out there of people who despise these ads and think less of the brand.'' Pollack is fed up with X10 ads, which he quickly tries to close without giving them even a glance. ``I think I am fairly certain that I would never buy anything from X10.'' Web surfers can use software tools to block these ads from popping up on their screens. Consumer advocates, however, say that the onus should not be on computer users to take such action. Pop-under ads aren't the only new formats being spotted online. Last month, Ford Motor Co. launched an ad that basically took over Yahoo!'s home page. When the first page loaded, animated birds perched on Ford's banner ad began to fly around the screen before eating away at birdseed to reveal an ad for the automaker's new Explorer.

The ad was only available on May 4, but Yahoo said that more creative ads are likely to appear in the months ahead. Growing in popularity are ads, sometimes known as ``shoshkeles,'' which look like cartoons floating over text and pictures. Such ads have been used by a wide range of companies, including Monster.com and Domino's pizza. One ad for airline JetBlue Airways featured a picture of one of its planes ``flying'' over the Web site travelguys.net. Also being seen more often are ``superstitial'' ads, which load into a computer's temporary memory while a user is viewing a Web page and appears instantly when the person clicks to another page on the same site. New York-based Unicast, which developed the technology, has seen a rapid increase in interest, especially by traditional marketers looking to improve their promotions online. The company's business has grown fivefold every quarter since September, said Allie Shaw, vice president of global marketing. Interactive Advertising Bureau, the trade group that represents Web publishers and marketers, is monitoring consumer response to the new ad formats. Robin Webster, IAB's president, said online advertising ``is hardly tried and true. It is not TV. We haven't had 40 years to figure it out ... We have to be willing to try new things.'' What goes unsaid is, who pays for the mistakes?..