I thought I had seen all the ways that advertisers try to get my attention, but I was wrong. This week I went to fill my car with gas and was assaulted by a new barrage of noise and image. Apparently, it is not enough that I am spending a lot of money to purchase gasoline. I am also seen as a captive audience for advertisements.
In this case, it was a very loud television(with no volume controls) blaring a series of ads and pictures at me while I stood helplessly by my gas tank. The kiosk also helpfully offered business cards that I could take to contact the various advertisers. Interestingly enough, none of the businesses offered were within 25 miles of my home. Perhaps the intention was that I would use some of my newly purchased gasoline to take a long drive!
City buses drive by plastered with full ads that even cover the windows so that you can’t see into the bus. The grocery cart has an insert showing me a friendly insurance agent. It appears you can be paid to paint your car as an advertisement and drive around town. I even saw a portable billboard on the back of a truck trailer.
I remember the first time I saw the name of a company on an article of clothing and was astonished that anyone would pay to advertise a manufacturer. Little did I foresee how normalized that would become, nor that it would become an opportunity for “status.”
Curmudgeonly yours, I remain, looking for a new gas station.
Saved By Words 
The world is too much with us late and soon
Your fellow curmudgeon
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I sure love having turned into one!
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I saw a gas station like that and felt like I was in a science fiction novel, spoiler, those stories don’t end well for people
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Great observation.
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Yet another reason I’m glad to be a small town girl. We don’t have too much stuff like this here. To be fair, we don’t have a gas station either…
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LOL! How about a Dairy Queen? My husband once lived in a very small town in Arizona that had a traffic jam when the Dairy Queen opened.
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We have a post office and farms and a mud bog (which is a form of red neck entertainment) That’s about it
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Those big billboards along the high way distract motorists. We have plenty here.
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Do you have the ones that keep changing ads every minute or so?
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I think we have those too.
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I smiled at this, Elizabeth, we also get assaulted with adverts everywhere here in South Africa.
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That is depressing. I was hoping it was just a U.S. problem.
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First I must acknowledge your use of the english language – Curmudgeonly – (I love it!)
Secondly, I concur with your observation of advertisement. It is too much, but that is how people are making money, but ads. That seemed to be the way to go.
I haven’t sold myself yet, with it for my blog, but I know people who have. 🙂
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Don’t put ads on your lovely blog.
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Yes, I’m thinking against it. 😊
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Good. I really get annoyed by those ads on blogs. Sell Avon instead.LOL!
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😂😂😂😂 Avon!
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