Grocery Conveyor Belt Ads to Cause Insanity

conveyor_belt_ads.jpg

If you happen to work as a grocery or retail store clerk you might find yourself checking into a hospital for dizziness or a mental institution for insanity all caused by being forced to revolving ads on the conveyor belt in front of you. In what is certainly one of the more blatantly disgusting forms of ad creep, EnVision Marketing Group, which patented the idea, is rolling out ads on the conveyor belts of 52 Cincinnati-based Kroger grocery stores.

Like a kid gleefully plastering every square inch of his bedroom wall with posters of Kelli Garner, EnVision CEO Frank Cox gushed, "Conveyor belts have never been on anybody's radar screen for marketing. But a store with eight to 10 checkout lanes, well, you're talking about 100 square feet of wasted ad real estate." Indeed. But what about all that food covering up the ads, Mr. Cox? Perhaps Cox should start calling hospitals to place ads on the ceilings of patient's room. Now there's a captive audience.

Written by Steve Hall    Comments (13)     File: Bad, Opinion, Point of Purchase     Aug-17-06  
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Comments

I just threw up a little in my mouth.

Posted by: Rob on August 17, 2006 10:01 AM

Just goes to show you - some people still buy (and sell) advertising based on impressions, not impact.

The law of supply and demand will dictate how far this goes. Just how big a supply of dopey marketing managers and "media" buyers are out there?

I'll be watching the belt at my King Kullen to see. ;-(

Posted by: Kevin Horne on August 17, 2006 10:21 AM

Getting closer and closer to advertising a la Minority Report. Sigh...

Posted by: Lisa Reynolds on August 17, 2006 11:06 AM

I'm waiting for laser-tattooed ads appearing on the inside of your eyelids

Posted by: FishNChimps on August 17, 2006 11:28 AM

I've seen ads on those little dividers that seperate one's cart of groceries from the other. That made sense. Everyone wants the damn little thing so that they can begin unloading their groceries and they're constantly eyeing it so they know when they're next. This, however, has got to be the worst ideas I've seen in a while. There's a line between smart ad placement and the "shotgun" approach of just putting an ad anywhere possible and hoping you get something out of it in return.

Posted by: Doug on August 17, 2006 12:02 PM

Just shows why online grocery shopping is needed more than *ever* before ...

Posted by: Hunter Boyle on August 17, 2006 01:55 PM

Good now we can all throw Kotex, dog food, cat food and pampers all over the other guys advertising. This is a real waste of time, effort and money.

Posted by: Red Neck on August 18, 2006 06:13 PM

Too much is TOO MUCH. There is a point of saturation and there is a point of "ad nasuem" (literally)

Posted by: Anthony on August 19, 2006 09:51 PM

This kind of advertising shows contempt for its audience. EnVision doesn't care, it's selling to advertisers. And the supermarkets make a little extra, too.

Frank Cox, there's a good reason why this idea hasn't been on anyone's "radar screen".

I'd like to see what studies have been done to measure the effectiveness of this. Methinks a non-biased study would send advertisers running for cover.

Posted by: Savy on August 21, 2006 12:47 AM

I'm not so sure. Everyone seems to be assuming this space will be used to sell products sold in the stores. I would of thought it was a bit late for that. But what about cafes or restaurants nearby? What about credit cards? What about gas stations? What about ....

I think it's kind of smart, actually, because there's very little else to do at this moment in one's life except watch the money tick up on the till. I think some people a being a tad precious in their objections.

Posted by: Steve Yolland on August 22, 2006 04:22 AM

I'm not so sure. Everyone seems to be assuming this space will be used to sell products sold in the stores. I would of thought it was a bit late for that. But what about cafes or restaurants nearby? What about credit cards? What about gas stations? What about ....

I think it's kind of smart, actually, because there's very little else to do at this moment in one's life except watch the money tick up on the till. I think some people a being a tad precious in their objections.

Posted by: Steve Yolland on August 22, 2006 04:22 AM

My wife works as a checker, and has told me that the amount of granules,meat juices, and other types of debris tend to jam up near the termination flange just before the belt goes underneath. Checkers of coarse have to constantly clean the belt. What happens when these attached laminates de-laminate and cause an costly massive belt jam. I hope they thought this through. good luck to them anyway.

Posted by: Lou on March 7, 2007 08:23 PM

My wife works as a checker, and has told me that the amount of granules,meat juices, and other types of debris tend to jam up near the termination flange just before the belt goes underneath. Checkers of coarse have to constantly clean the belt. What happens when these attached laminates de-laminate and cause an costly massive belt jam. I hope they thought this through. good luck to them anyway.

Posted by: Lou Casley on March 7, 2007 08:25 PM

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