Advertising isn't just appearing on 18 wheelers. I saw a tv feature this morning on a company that puts fluid-activated voice message devices in the sanitary capsules placed in urinals. I thing they call it the Wizmark. Another outfit places advertising on the painted strips separating spaces in parking lots, the idea being you can't help but read the ad when you glance down to make sure you're properly parked.

This desperation to bombard us with messages hints to me that there is a crisis in advertising. As we are saturated more and more with commercials, their effectiveness is diluted to the point of meaninglessness. Even effective commercials that get your attention because they are clever, amusing, attractive or annoying may not perform their primary function: helping you remember the name of the product. And I can't believe that I'm the only person in the world who makes an effort to avoid patronizing products whose advertisers routinely insult my intelligence or invade my privacy. I mean, would you buy any product from a company that inserts popups into your internet content that take over your screen and can't be easily removed? Or that calls you while you're trying to watch the news or eat your dinner?

No advertising agency or marketing department is going to admit that the communication they are propagating doesn't work, so any evidence of ineffectiveness is likely to be ignored or obscured. But the desperation and increased volume from the marketeers suggests that the Advertising Age may soon be over, poisoned by its own toxins. The fact that consumers can now use the net to directly access merchants and get objective, independent product reviews tells me that advertising will either disappear or disguise itself as entertainment, news, or art. We're already starting to see signs of this. This is one form of free speech we can do without.