During the last few months, I’ve been getting some unexpected
deliveries in the mail: baby magazines
and advertisement for new parents. I was
married to my wonderful wife, Tiffany, about 9 months ago in August 2011, which
might sort of explain why I’m getting this mail. However, we are not expecting any kids yet,
and I really don’t know why I’m getting this stuff. Definitely didn’t sign up
for it! My wife thinks it’s hilarious that the baby mail
is always addressed to me. For example,
I now get the “American Baby” magazine once a month. I guess it gives some useful advice for
expecting fathers such as how to get your kid to sleep through the night, but
most of the magazine is aimed solidly at new moms. For example, articles such as “have a better
bed rest” and “dieting after delivery.”
Good job American Baby, you really cornered your customer base by sending
me your magazine…
Besides American Baby, I also get some product samples (free
powdered baby formula!) and various advertisement junk mail. The most honestly named of the junk mail is “Buy
Buy Baby,” a booklet that sells baby toys, strollers, baby clothes, and
more. Some of the people in our class
are parents and have experience buying baby stuff, but I was surprised at how
expensive it is! Most strollers in Buy
Buy Baby, for example, are $300 and up.
Selling baby stuff is big money!
So why am I getting this mail? Possibly, one of my friends thought it would
be funny to sign me up for it. Or, maybe
my mom is trying to give me some not-subtle hints that she wants a grandkid. However, I think it’s most likely that an
advertising database somewhere chose my name as a potential new parent to
target with ads. Last summer before
getting married, I was making a lot of purchases online for things like wedding
favors, a ring bearer pillow, a unity candle, etc. One of the online stores probably shared my
customer profile with a big advertising database, which calculated that I had a
good chance of becoming a new parent soon.
And what do you know, six months later I start getting a bunch of baby
ads. This sort of targeted advertising
is really big right now. It’s great for
companies if they can lock onto potential customers before they even start
buying anything, whether that customer is an expecting parent looking for baby
stuff or a rock climber looking for gear.
However, as the consumer getting targeted, I have to say it’s a little
creepy having companies track me like this.
Getting baby magazines in the mail is fairly innocent, but it’s easy to
imagine cases where I wouldn’t want data about me getting shared. What if I was applying for a job, and the
potential employer saw that I was tagged as an expecting parent and decided not
to hire me since I would be distracted from work? Or if I was running for public office, would
the opposing campaign be able to dig through my consumer records to try to find
some “dirt” on me? Maybe losing privacy is the price of doing business online, but
it’s kind of scary.
Hahaha. That makes me wonder a bit more why I started receiving "Black Enterprise" about 9 months ago!
ReplyDeleteHahaha! Jared that is hilarious.
ReplyDeleteMike, what about Google searches? Some of the major commercial search engines use algorithms that analyze the keywords people search for and then customize the advertisements they display for those individuals. Personalized marketing is something I have noticed on Facebook as well, where the advertisements seem to more and more match various characteristics from my profile.
Is this a breach of privacy? Yes I believe so. But does it also make it more convenient for you to find products or services you are more interested in? I prefer the way Hulu does it. They ask you if this advertisement is relevant and then shape your marketing profile based on the thumbs up or thumbs down replies.
I guess my point was that we don't realize that our privacy is being encroached upon until we start getting annoying advertisements. While this whole time I have been using Kroger coupons that are personalized for my shopping preferences, coupons for brand name products where I was buying generic.
Wow, that's funny. It could have been a prank. That's something some of my friends used to do in college and they just thought it was HILARIOUS. But I could also believe that you are being “tracked.” That’s more and more plausible these days. And it is creepy. I am haunted by Nordstroms ads on the Internet. I will look at one pair of shoes on there, have a rational moment where I decide that I don’t need them, but then everywhere I go on an ad shows up with those shoes! Advertising online is just out of control these days.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it was one of my friends pranking me, but if so no one's owned up to it! I know what you mean with advertising online, sometimes after just looking at something online once it seems to follow me around for days..
DeleteI have similar experience. I think there are more and more retailers which cooperate with search engines on internet and get consumers’ information. For example, once I search “car dealer Cincinnati” on internet. After searching, I saw car advertisements on most of web pages. Another time I tried to buy headphone from an electronic commerce, I still receive headphone advertisements every day while I am wearing my new headphone now. Some personal information may also leaks from social network. I can even see advertisements for pipetteman or tissue culture media on my Facebook page. Thankfully I didn’t search some inappropriate terms, or I may have to prevent others to see my web browser.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't stop laughing for quite a while after reading this this. I have heard people getting unexpected readers' digest, but this is a new one.
ReplyDelete