The Future of TV and the Italian cusine
Posted on October 3, 2008
Filed Under media |
I was wondering –why all Italian men in their 30s (or beginning 40s) are so familiar with cleaning products, food products, different kinds of brooms (il mocio vileda!), toilette paper and so on?
Then I understood why: we have to thank Silvio Berlusconi and the introduction of private TV channels in Italy in the late 1970s.
Movies started to be broadcasted and paid through commercials. Alberto Sordi’s fanatics, or Paul Newman afficionados, could watch their movie for free, but had to “pay” buying certain products in the supermarket. We children had less purchasing power than our mothers, so we both watched the same movies, but the commercials were targeting them.
It will all change now. First of all, children are already rarely watching TV with their parents. But increasingly more, each person has his/her computer, and can watch his/her favorite movie or video clip alone. Cinema is still a social activity, but has less commercials.
When I watch a movie on YouTube, the system knows quite well who I am. I shop around using Google CheckOut or Amazon (which oddly enough has not yet developed anything like Amazon CheckOut, or am I wrong?). So, in theory, YouTube can insert the right commercial for me, for each movie I want to watch.
Sites like hulu.com provide movies thanks to commercials, but they are still shooting in the dark. I just saw a commercial of a certain car insurance policy –I have no car and my only motorbike was stohlen two years ago. A waste of my and their time (and the insurance company’s money).
In the future, I’ll only watch commercials about magazines, books, movies, computer gadgets, cheap flight and local restaurant (Google knows where I am, scaring!).
And we will remain the only generation with a deep knowledge of the difference between Cif and Mr Clean (I have always preferred Cif, and still do).
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2 Responses to “The Future of TV and the Italian cusine”
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And the Italian cusine? I’ve read your post mainly because cusine was mentioned in the title…! Kidding!
Anyway, you know that I’m a fan of technology and when I see google showing ads that are very much targeted on me, I’m firstly amazed and soon after I feel a bit uneasy knowing that google knows everything.
Toto, you’re right, no cusine!
I love to look at gmail’s ads too…. but sometimes they are offensive:
“Better memory in old age! Keep your mind and body protected.”