The Future Will Be Filled with Ads

Telly, a startup company, announced they are giving away free TVs. All you need to do to receive a free TV is to be willing to use your living room as an area where advertisements are shown in perpetuity. In other words, customers receive a free TV in exchange for displaying advertisements in their home. The television features dual screens with a 55-inch 4K HDR screen and an always lit nine-inch second screen mounted underneath the larger display. Between the two screens is a built-in five-driver soundbar. Ads appear 24/7 on the second screen alongside widgets that feature weather, music playback, stocks, and sports scores. But just in case ads displayed on one screen isn't enough for you, ads can also be displayed on the main screen when the TV is not in use.

Honestly, a large part of me doesn't want this product to be successful and it's because Telly's television could set a bad precedent. Other companies could follow Telly’s lead by bringing more advertisements into our homes. And I didn't even mention the privacy concerns that come along with turning your home into rented advertisement space. Sure, a free TV is nice. But in reality nothing is ever free.

If this keeps up, businesses will propel us into a world where we watch advertisements nearly 24/7. I'm sure the executives of big companies think fondly on inundating their prospective customers with advertisements, but going into a world where advertisements are so pervasive could backfire on companies. Research shows that inundating prospective customers with ads can be harmful for a brand. In fact, ramming advertisements down the throats of potential customers is considered more harmful than displaying a company's advertisement beside inappropriate content.

It's also worth noting that Telly's free TV may get into homes, but this doesn't mean that people will engage with the advertisements. Of course, it depends on how the advertisements are delivered. If the same few advertisements are shown on the TV, then it may sour people's views of those companies. Even if it's not the same few advertisements shown on the TV, people may find a way to mentally block out the advertisements that are being shown.

Telly's TV does illustrate one thing for sure. It shows that we are not progressing to an ad-free world. Instead, we are regressing to a world littered with advertisements. This is the first product that will display advertisements 24/7 inside the home. If you really think about it, the Telly TV has a somewhat capitalist dystopian feeling to it. This TV is something that comes about when people can no longer afford goods, so they must rent them in exchange for giving corporations advertisement space. As time goes on, how much more invasive will these advertisements become? Will the price of goods become so extreme that people will get free clothes and discounted vehicles in exchange for displaying advertisements on these items?

Written by Wes Cooper

2023-05-26