“Ad Spammer Down on Aisle 5!”

I can probably just enter the headline on AdAge‘s article (Link – free registration required) and let you people figure this one out:

WIRELESS STORE SHELF VIDEO ADS
TESTED BY BIG MARKETERS

Digital Device Detects Motion,
Plays Spot When Shoppers Walk By

but here’s a sample:

Top marketers including Coca-Cola Co., Colgate-Palmolive Co., Kraft Food’s Maxwell House, Bush Bros. and Tyson Foods have signed on to test a new in-store marketing device that automatically turns on a 10-second video ad on shelf as a consumer walks by.

You folks did realize that the technology to track you in real life was previously announced, didn’t you? I recall the MIT Advertising Lab recently necro-posting this news (like them, I probably caught it over on We Make Money Not Art – here’s that entry: Link).

Now is perhaps a good time to read some of my other, related posts on tracking avatars in virtual worlds. Maybe now it won’t seem so far-fetched to some of you.

($300/device!?! What kinds of margins are the makers getting for that thing???)