Smart Billboards: They're Watching You

'Minority Report'-style technology scans passing faces

(NEWSER) - Some Japanese malls are already testing a personalized billboard technology eerily similar to the one seen in Minority Report. The new billboards, developed by Japanese electronic company NEC, scan the faces of passing shoppers, quickly determine their age and gender, and then display demographic-appropriate ads, the Daily Telegraph reports. More»

Seems employees can troll, control, and fiddle with personal data

(NEWSER) - As the advertising industry prepares to harness the personal data of 50 million Facebook users, new privacy concerns are whipping through cyberspace. Valleywag reveals that Facebook employees not only have access to users' profiles and inboxes, but can alter them. And they do—frequently enough that management had to tell developers to "knock it off." More»

'Christmas Quality, Hanukkah Pricing' slogan angers ADL

(NEWSER) - A New York City billboard selling cheap vodka with the slogan "Christmas Quality, Hanukkah Pricing" was taken down after a flood of complaints, including one from the Anti-Defamation League. "In a crude and offensive way of trying to make a point that their vodka is high quality and inexpensive, the billboards evoke a Jewish holiday to imply something that is cheap and of lesser value when compared to the higher value of a Christian holiday," complained the ADL's regional director, saying the ad "reinforces anti-Semitic stereotypes." More»

Picture talking pill bottles and constant monitoring, writes Alex Poulos

(NEWSER) - If you think ads are inescapable now, just wait a few decades, writes Alex Poulos in the Boston Globe . Future generations will laugh at our primitive tech know-how; the question is “who will laugh last. And I’m afraid it won’t be the consumer,” he writes. Expect ads that are:

• “Intrusive.” The backs of cabs will have scrolling ads, and pill bottles will have audio messages when you open them.

Actor Paul Marcarelli breaks his silence

(NEWSER) - Verizon's iconic "Test Man" ad character is being dropped after nearly a decade—and after being silent for much of that time, actor Paul Marcarelli is finally talking. Marcarelli, who said "Can you hear me now?" in hundreds of ads, says the company let him know last fall that they plan to take their advertising in a different direction. His original five-year contract with the company had banned him from taking other commercial work or discussing any aspect of the ad campaign, he tells the Atlantic . Now, he is still under contract, but eager to promote an upcoming project. More»