Plan UK to release electronic hoarding that can determine gender and deliver tailored message to viewers
Plan UK to release electronic hoarding that can determine gender andCharity Plan UK will this week release an advertising campaign which will be able to establish the gender of the person reading it and relay a different, relevant message as a result.
The electronic hoarding will feature as part of the ‘Because I Am a Girl’ campaign, which will aim to help provide education to girls in some of the world’ poorest countries.
It has been reported that the advert, which will cost £30,000, will be unveiled at a bus stop on Oxford Street in London on Wednesday, using technology that echoes that featured within the Steven Spielberg science fiction thriller Minority Report in personalising adverts.
In response to the news,Ian Kerrigan, executive creative director for gyro London, commented: “This campaign is all about creating an emotional connection with the right audience. Emotional and personal connections are key to brand engagement, and this can only happen if the right person is being communicated to – in this case, women. But imagine if this technology developed to other personal features – for example, advertising based on hair colour would be a goldmine for the cosmetics industry. This is not a technology to fear – it is to be welcomed, as it will create a more relevant advertising landscaping for everyone.”
Mike Spicer, CEO of Pulse Group, added: “The era of blanket marketing to the general public is over, and technology now allows advertisers to target their audience in a previously unsurpassed way. This will help to drive profits (or funding in this case) in an economic climate where successful marketing to a specific demographic is paramount to success. Advertisers want to spark interest, debate and attention, and this campaign has certainly succeeded in that.”
Tim Hipperson, chief executive of G2 Joshua, also weighed in, commenting: “Plan Uk’s interactive advert represents the continuation of the digital revolution in advertising, where brands forge closer connections with consumers. This campaign is a prime example of how highly targeted advertising cannot only inspire but also intelligently project a particular statement, in this case declining a man’s “basic choices”. Targeted messaging such as this is becoming increasingly vital in the cluttered marketplace and is part of the future of more useful advertising that seamlessly connects with consumers.”
New to The Drum
You will be sent a verification email. Click on the link in the email to post your comment.
Existing Users Sign In
More like this
- Lucozade Energy releases augmented reality campaign featuring Tinie Tempah and Plan B
- National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence to compile print and electronic content framework
- Roses are red, stereotypes are blue... is that the best you can do?
- Only 11% of public can name Coca-Cola and McDonald’s as Olympic sponsors
- Fred Perry appoints The Tailor of Shoreditch to create brand experience for The Specials gig
11/05/2012
Pitch news: Hertz, HTC, Smirnoff, LV=
Comments
comments
Sorry, but this is not a good thing, quite the opposite in fact. The whole problem here is that being able to examine someone's facial structure and then, in public, force your own opinion of 'what they are' on them possibly goes even further than sexual discrimination and into a thing called Physiognomy, the judging of people by appearances, which was practised widely in the Middle Ages.
Whilst I understand the point Plan UK are trying to get across, the whole idea that you can judge someone's gender, or any other information about them, just by looking at them is a step backwards of about 100 years, and stands a good chance of being illegal in a country that has laws regarding discrimation against Women, Men AND Transgender people.
People are NOT a set of algorithms in a computer program, for example, just because someone has grey hair, it does NOT mean you can force ads for hair dye onto them, that's insulting, and, in a crowded shopping area could also be humiliating for the recipient.
To me, it just seems that Plan UK have spent 30K on pretty much halving the number of people who will see their campaign. Not the wisest of investments.
comments
@prdib94241 We're sorry you feel we've done the wrong thing. It's not our intention to cause offence, or to judge. We asked the gay rights campaign group Stonewall, and the transgender community group GIRES, about the ad before it was made. They support what we're doing - the ad is opt-in, is 90% accurate, and makes clear that we're not in it to stereotype. Our challenge is to get the message heard that girls are denied choices that we all too often take for granted - and that gender equality is still a long way off for many girls and boys, and men and women. @PlanUK #choicesforgirls
comments
@leigh25717
Problem is, whilst I have no doubt that the intentions are good, and I agree that Gender equality still has a long way to go, even in this country, that equality will not be achieved by pushing the matter in the opposite direction, whilst I'm sure the intention is to highlight the issue, all it really does is exacerbate it. We need to be making sure that equality is enforced in this country if we are to claim any kind of moral high-ground with regards to others, and that means enforcing it in ALL directions.
Also, the future of this technology is a major concern, not merely this campaign, to be honest, my main concern is not this, it's walking past a billboard one day and having it announce, in public, that I'm overweight, or going bald etc by displaying adverts for treatments or health foods, whilst I know that is not an issue for PlanUK, the whole technology is designed to judge who people are and what they 'want' purely from what a set of measurements tell it, which is pretty much the kind of thing PlanUK are trying to stop in the rest of the world.
90% accuracy means that 1/10 people who go past the sign are going to be incorrectly gender-assigned by the software, and you have to be aware that not everyone in this country, male or female, will react very well to that.
I wish you well with your campaign to bring equality for women, and support it wholesale, but this isn't the way to do it. You have all the best intentions in the world, I do not doubt, but this technology, if not directly than at least indirectly, is designed to discriminate and I am sad to see it being used by a charity that works so hard against such behaviour.
comments
I hope this story goes global, In a strange twist of fate i really think it will serve to highlight the discrimination against men.
LETS TELL THE WORLD.
Write Your Comment