VIEWPOINT: Where will all of this end?

<p>Even 'fine' Singapore cannot escape from the onslaught of intrusive </p><p>marketing - the latest controversy to arise saw mobile telephone network </p><p>provider M1 somehow manage to sneak an ad campaign onto rival SingTel's </p><p>network. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Basically, this meant that each time a SingTel customer used his or her </p><p>phone, an M1 voice ad would play. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Whether or not this was fair play, or even whether it was a good </p><p>marketing tactic or not, is not the issue. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The issue is this: is nothing sacred? </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Is there nowhere left untouched, nothing left unscathed by marketers </p><p>desperate to reach their targets by fair means or foul? </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Yes, advertising makes the world go around. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It makes possible things and services which would otherwise never </p><p>exist. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But what is becoming more and more clear is the mercenary cynicism </p><p>behind every new ploy. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>You want to sell diapers? Fine. Sell diapers. But to sell diapers by </p><p>coming up with a bogus marketing concept which plays off the emotional </p><p>bond between a mother and her child? </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Come on. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>There are some things which should be sacrosanct - for example, AIDS </p><p>victims should never be used to sell jumpers. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Consumers should never have to endure advertising when it is </p><p>unwelcome. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Consumers should be given the choice - to turn off the TV, to flip to </p><p>the next page in a magazine, to opt out of receiving ads on their mobile </p><p>phones. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Which brings us to the Internet. These days, you don't even need to </p><p>click on half the banners on the site you're visiting - simply passing </p><p>your cursor over the ad will automatically take you to the advertiser's </p><p>site. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Then there are those hugely annoying "pop-up" windows which squat on </p><p>your PC screen like warts on a toad. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>And let's not start on those secret links which mean that even if you </p><p>attempt to close the site you're on, another site automatically </p><p>loads. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Try to shut that one down, and boom! Up pops another one unbidden. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>No one objects to advertising as such. A lot of us actually enjoy it and </p><p>appreciate its benefits. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But no one wants to have their noses rubbed in it. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>So the next time someone suggests what they think is an incredibly </p><p>clever, new marketing tactic, ask yourselves: "Would I like it as much </p><p>if it was someone else doing it to me?" </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Chances are you'll say "no". </p><p><BR><BR> </p>