Canoe's targeted ads set sail for households with income to spend
By Steven Kim 
posted Apr 21st 2009 11:26PM
posted Apr 21st 2009 11:26PM
The six cable companies involved with Canoe Ventures -- Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, Charter, Cablevision and Bright House -- will be turning loose the targeted ad technology that has been in the works for a while now. Especially in the midst of the economic crunch, you just know that tax brackets are going to drive the tailoring of the bespoke ads, which go by the friendly name of CAM (community addressable messaging). Fully interactive ads will have to wait for tru2way, so for now CAM 1.0 will swap in one of two versions of a spot, depending on whether the destination is in a zone designated as "over $100,000." We foresee some interesting water cooler discussions ahead as coworkers report seeing different ads at halftime and thus give away some personal info.
At face value seems like fun. But it's dangerous for advertisers to have this ability. Our kids are fat enough and parents poor enough. They don't need more sugar or another "brand new tv only" anything.
Great, now I'm going to be envious of my neighbors higher income ads? What, the lack of a boat and fancy sports car in the driveway doesn't make it clear? Or a lawn that was obviously maintained by a 13 year-old, as opposed to a professional landscaper, didn't make it clear enough? I'm only average.