Thursday, August 23, 2012

Info Overload

 ***


Ads of every kind

in every view,
by every which way
turn

scenes interrupted
partially obscured by

pictures of gardens
on rooftops,
swimming pools
by seaside

piceous glassy gadgets
delicious to touch

carriages designed for
speed and comfort

stretched faces
with stretched smiles

to sell, or
am I the one
being sold?

a rusty frame
erect
beside a busy
highway
taking a chunk
of sky --

is that also an ad of some kind?

***

16 comments:

Grace said...

I know what you mean...it bombards us at every turn, and in every media too ~ Times Square at NY was the height of it ~

Bodhirose said...

Those ads are so invasive...everywhere you look...I do my best to tune them out.

Ravenblack said...

Thanks for coming by, Grace and Gayle.

We are beginning to get those large on-the-building screens, not as large as the one in Times Square but loud enough.

On a side note, for tunning out, I wish there's a way to set the tv for auto-mute when ads come on. :D

Victoria said...

We are so bombarded. Love the line about stretched faces and stretched smiles. It rings of the artificiality of so much of our culture. I refuse to have plastic surgery...had to have too many surgeries that were not elective. Great summation.

Ravenblack said...

Thanks for your comment, Victoria. There's a lot of image enhancement schemes and procedures these days. I am mean sometimes, sometimes I look at a before and after picture of such ads of said person going through this and that, and think "it's not your skin, it's your teeth." Anyway the way the ads are done are very off-putting. Kinda sometimes along the lines of, "if you want to keep your husband interested, you better do something to look attractive." *roll eyes*

Claudia said...

love the stretched faces and stretched smiles...are we the ones, being sold..? good question and sometimes frightening how much influence those ads can have on people's decisions..

Ravenblack said...

Influences us on sublime/subconscious level as well I think.
Thanks for your visit, Claudia.

Anonymous said...

Ha! I don't mind it in the city but in the countryside they are awful! Very clever. k.

Brian Miller said...

everyone is selling something....and using every inch....wraps on cars, bill boards, i def agree on the tv...i iwsh i could just cut them out...and its only starting with the political ads...

Victoria said...

I can't help but think these multiple images impact our children, perhaps relate to the increased incidence of autism. Well done.

Ravenblack said...

It certainly become a world of forced and overmuch info. I heard somewhere that we get more info in a day than someone from the 18th century get in a year.

Thanks for your comments Brian and Victoria.

Unknown said...

I've thought like this before as well. Really nice job poeticizing this theme, lots of pertinent questions you bring up. You know how timely this piece is too, in a couple of weeks a movie called Branded is coming out that the premise is about an advertising agency use marketing to take over people and then the world, looks pretty interesting.

Ravenblack said...

That does sound interesting.

BTW, glad to hear you joined the dTeam, Fred. Eager to see what you're gonna come up for themes or prompts when you host. :)

Anonymous said...

I like! :)

Anonymous said...

Hope not! Very clever.

(And hope you had a great time in Madrid. I know things are depressed right now, but it's such a great city. Thanks. k.

Ravenblack said...

You'd never know with ads nowadays. Some of them are very clever, incorporating their backgrounds.

Madrid is beautiful. The museums are all so awesome, and so much art to see! I was lucky there was a lull in the protests when I was there. I hope things get better for them.