So okay, this doesn't have to do with writing (unless of course it sparks an idea for a story. Or a publicity strategy). But it's so bizarre I couldn't resist featuring it.
Advertising is everywhere. It bombards us at every moment and from every side (if you have an ebook reader, watch out--it will soon be there as well). There's a dilemma for advertisers, though--the more advertising there is, the more desensitized to it we become. So what's an advertiser to do? What new publicity frontier might blast through ad overload, and seize the public's tired eyeballs?
How about the moon?
A company called Moon Publicity is promising to use robots to create advertising images on the moon. The company's "Shadow Shaping" technology will create "several small ridges in the lunar dust over large areas that capture shadows and shape them to form logos, domains [sic] names or memorials."
Never in the history of advertising has the possibility of penetrating every market on Earth, reaching every person on the planet, and touching them at emotional level only possible with the beauty of the moon on a starlit night, been made available. Twelve billion eyeballs looking at your logo in the sky for several days every month for the next several thousand years.
Specifics are notably lacking from Moon Publicity's website, including technical specifications (although allegedly the technology is patent pending), how the robots will be manufactured and delivered, when this might happen, and who exactly is behind the company--although the website does identify various important challenges, such as...gravity. "Shadow Shaping robots will need to be lightweight and compact, at least during transportation."
Nevertheless, "Exclusive transferable licensing is being made available for 44 regions of the visible side of the Moon." (This handy, clickable Guide breaks the regions down.) Bidding began July 20, and closes October 20. Minimum bid, for one of the regions at the very bottom: $46,000. For the most desirable area--the Mare Vaporum, smack in the middle of the moon's visible side--it's a bit higher: $602,000, to be precise.
Are they kidding???
A bit of digging reveals that the Moon Publicity URL is registered to David Jones of MegaNova, a Utah company that appears to be a creator of educational websites. According to this brief bio, David Jones is a software developer and engineer who "has engineered infant life-support devices, bomb detectors, robots, military training systems, and satellite communication systems."
Only in Utah, I'm thinking.
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