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Ads... In... Spaaaaaaace!
from the say-it-ain't-so... dept
I think it officially became true today that you cannot look anywhere without the potential of seeing an advertisement for something. We long ago passed the stage where people were putting advertisements in bathroom (that whole "captive audience" thing), but now a Russian inventor has apparently patented a device for putting ads in space. That's right, next time you look up at the Big Dipper, you might have to see a "this constellation sponsored by Coca-Cola" sign with it. Basically, the system works by using satellites with sunlight reflectors. By carefully positioning multiple satellites, an advertising message could be spelled out. Remember the days when you could "get away from it all" and go look at the stars? Apparently, those days are over.
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It's funny how
the inventions that seem like the worst excesses of American culture often come from non-Americans.
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Love the reference
I love the callback to the old Muppet's Show "Piiiigs Innnn Spaaaace!"...
I don't see a problem with a patent on a specific way of doing this, but if it had been a more generic "putting ads into orbit for terestrial viewing" sort of patent I could have objected.
It sounds like his idea would be prohibitively expensive (requiring multiple satellites which requires multiples space launches), etc.
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Thank God for Ambulance chasing Lawyers ...
I'm starting a class action lawsuit for the first SOB corporation that uses this technology.
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Re: Thank God for Ambulance chasing Lawyers ...
Yep, the backlash behind it will quickly outweight the gain.
That being said, companies might get away with putting them up for a limited time, or using them to promote positive messages. Ex. If you put up "Peace." for just one night and did appropriate PR around it, pretty much everyone in the world will know that was "sponsored by Pepsi" without having to put that on the message itself. At least the first time.
I can't see governments of the world allowing this, either, though.
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No Subject Given
http://www.emagazine.com/may-june_1996/0596feat2.html
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Ads in Space...
You know, with NASA already complaining about the amount of space debris in orbit, and scientists worried that putting more in orbit will prevent future missions to space and falling debris, I cannot see how any government organization would allow this to succeed. The pressure alone from the US Government and scientists everywhere would quash any known movement in this direction (like it quashed Microsoft's initiative to put 200+ satellites in orbit for communication.)
I'd throw this one on the useless patents pile, as I don't even think it has any potential of going anywhere.
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No Subject Given
Just more light polution if you ask me.
When will marketers finally realize that its "enough"?
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http://gen.newrandom.com
I can definitely think of more useful things to put all those satellites too...
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