Burger King ad too connected
Overly Connected
Are we just too connected these days?
This is a question that needs to be really thought about. In the past I have suggested we are just becoming to unaware of our connections. While many will say I am a techno phoebe or I have issues with change or maybe I am just an old fart, I think we are losing touch even though we say we are more in touch now than ever. I hear or read in social media how we (general population) are concerned about our privacy? Yet we post where we are, what we are doing, how we are feeling, what we are eating, what doctors we see, what movies we see, what are parents/children are saying and doing, but we still say we are concerned about our privacy. Sorry for the run on sentence I hope it made the point but we broadcast to the world what we are doing every day. Not just openly and in the public but secretly too. Remember the articles about how Apple was tracking the movement of your phone. Maybe you have an android and recently it started asking how your shopping experience was at Target, or a specific shopping center or restaurant. Yes even Google is playing a part here ever get traffic reports while you were on the road. As you can see we are connected. By the way this is a good time to rethink your profession if you are criminal and have not thought about leaving your cell phone home.
So why pick on Burger King?
They are just the latest to have a brilliant advertising campaign bite back. The used the words to activate the Google Home assistant as part of their ad. It triggered Google to play the information about BK found in Wikipedia. Eventually this was how they got bitten when users modified the Wikipedia page to use it against them. Innocent and funny maybe but still shows how invasive these home and phone devices can be. Please read the opinion article @cbcbews from Ramona Pringle .
…. Burger King did us the favor of reminding us that as we fill our homes with more and more connected gadgets, we open ourselves up to a whole new wave of advertising, commerce and sales. It’s a necessary nudge, prompting us to push back against new tech when it becomes too invasive, before its impact starts to go unnoticed…
Source: Why we should be thanking Burger King for hijacking our smart home devices – CBC News | Opinion
Why is this Bad?
If you own an Echo or Google device you know they are becoming more empowered every day. Especially the echo, Amazon keeps adding features or “Skills” on a regular basis. In Ms. Pringles article she points out there is no voice recognition security. If the announcer in an add suggests ordering Wings from Wingstop or Pizza from Dominos your device will place your usual order and soon you will have a fresh in wanted delivery at your door. Maybe that is not bad it certainly will increase sales.
Your Opinion
I have my opinion on this and it can be summed up simply I probably have one of the dumbest Echo devices in the world as I have not turned on many of its skills. I guess I sill like using the phone, and talking to a real person, or maybe it is just one of the thousand apps the marketing companies want me to install on my phone. If I do this I don’t think my phone will ever be big enough memory wise to handle all of the apps I need to have to get discounts everywhere I go. But this is my view, what is yours?
A tech tip from the techies at E2 Computers in Tarpon Springs and on the web at www.end2endsupport.com.
