Et Tu, MD?
Underneath the hard-baked, cynical exterior I attempt (Unconvincingly) to project to the not-real world of the blog there resides a naive, tender youth, a creature which resists the material lures of this world and resents the imposition of the corporate interest over the streets he walks, the movies, the air, the blogs... good grief, what a pussy! Seriously, I detest visiting blogs with any advertising on them. I cannot tolerate the clutter. Be it the a McDonald's banner on a blog which is very good and popular but I don't want the head guy to notice I am mentioning his blog because he can be a little touchy*, the pernicious google ads which appear to be tailored to an element of the blog content (Hot Victorian Ankle Porn at www.fibulafun.tv!), or the aggravating product placement within the text-type advertising, I detest it. Because I have a limited understanding of boundaries, I begin to question the authors, as in, what is going on with you? This is a job?
What I cannot comprehend are the actions of authors who have in the past discussed, in an interesting and detached manner, the practice of advertising on blogs, and conclude that it is not for them. Par example, MetroDad. You may recall his post which led to much foment, many teapots, many tempests. If not, here is the link. This is funny stuff, to be sure, particularly where many blog-people mustered all the self-seriousness they can and spewed into the comment thread in an exercise of self-justification or self-something.
Who cares? If you want to carry advertisements on your blog, go ahead. Some readers will swing with it and some won't. The reader may elect whether or not to read the blogs with ads and those writers are not forcing anyone to read their pages. (Except perhaps with the siren song of their prose. Resistance is futile.) What's the problem?
I take minor exception**, however, when an author appears to place himself in the "no advertising" camp and then, seemingly in contradiction of that stance, embeds a product in the text of a post about a positive experience had at a kids' concert which he attended at the pleasure of a corporation engaged in the manufacture and distribution of products which are (I believe) aimed at kids.
Granted, I may not understand the post correctly. That happens frequently when I encounter book-learning and real good grammar and such. Further, in terms of equity, I am guilty of recommending cds which I have purchased at a music shop somewhere in town. These cds are produeced by... fuck! Corporations! But the "We went to the show and it was terrific... and thanks to (product) for comping us the tickets does sound a wee bit like a product come-on, does it not? What is next for the author in question, a McDonald's banner?
PMO
* NOT Sweet Juniper. Definitely not.
** As in, just enough to type about it for 15 minutes.
What I cannot comprehend are the actions of authors who have in the past discussed, in an interesting and detached manner, the practice of advertising on blogs, and conclude that it is not for them. Par example, MetroDad. You may recall his post which led to much foment, many teapots, many tempests. If not, here is the link. This is funny stuff, to be sure, particularly where many blog-people mustered all the self-seriousness they can and spewed into the comment thread in an exercise of self-justification or self-something.
Who cares? If you want to carry advertisements on your blog, go ahead. Some readers will swing with it and some won't. The reader may elect whether or not to read the blogs with ads and those writers are not forcing anyone to read their pages. (Except perhaps with the siren song of their prose. Resistance is futile.) What's the problem?
I take minor exception**, however, when an author appears to place himself in the "no advertising" camp and then, seemingly in contradiction of that stance, embeds a product in the text of a post about a positive experience had at a kids' concert which he attended at the pleasure of a corporation engaged in the manufacture and distribution of products which are (I believe) aimed at kids.
Granted, I may not understand the post correctly. That happens frequently when I encounter book-learning and real good grammar and such. Further, in terms of equity, I am guilty of recommending cds which I have purchased at a music shop somewhere in town. These cds are produeced by... fuck! Corporations! But the "We went to the show and it was terrific... and thanks to (product) for comping us the tickets does sound a wee bit like a product come-on, does it not? What is next for the author in question, a McDonald's banner?
PMO
* NOT Sweet Juniper. Definitely not.
** As in, just enough to type about it for 15 minutes.
Labels: Is it just me?, whereat my petard?
posted by p-man at 9:06 a.m.
10 Comments:
This ad issue is like roadkill for me. I am doing my best not to look at it any more because I have seen a few too many guts and that has filled me with existential angst.
Glad it's just a minor exception, my friend (this would be the part of the e-mail where I would add a little smiley emoticon but I hate those things more than anything. Even more than advertising or hypocrisy!)
Anyway, just for the record, the people at Scholastic specifically asked me NOT to link to their site when they gave me the tickets. I just felt sort of obligated because, over the past three years, they've given us literally dozens and dozens of amazing children's books (most of which we've donated to charity.)
If you ever see a McDonalds ad on my site, feel free to shoot me. In fact, I'll even help load the bullets.
How I yearn for an emoticon. An emoticon with a hat. A pirate hat. Maybe with a logo on it, displayed prominently.
You have the PMO writing posts for your blog, now? With friends in high places, who needs advertising?
Wow -- there's another commenter named "l." out there?
This blogosphere ain't big enough for the two of us.
Anyway, I want use this opportunity to say how much I love my Google ads.
On my post the other day about St. Clare of Assisi, Google sent me an add for (drumroll, please....)
SEXY PANTIES.
The thought of it still makes me smile.
This amuses me because I am writing up a post about a product right now. They asked me to, and while I normally would blow off such a request with an "as if!" it is a product that was important too me when Pumpkinpie was a baby and when I asked them some more detailed questions, I got some pleasing answers I wanted to pass on. So yeah, I'm apparently advertising for them for free simply because I liked what I heard. Sorry, p-man. You may not want to come visit next Monday!
I was going to leave a comment about "l's" google ads but she beat me to it.
Usually I just say to each her/his own (I don't have ads, my blog is too small to bother) and ignore the ads.
Over at The Homesick Home, they're impossible to ignore.
Afterthought - sorry.
I dedicated an entire post to the San Francisco porta potties the other day.
I wonder what google would make of that.
Best to Mo-Wo. I've fallen behind on reading and commenting.
What I want to know is why a guy like Metrodad is constantly plied with gifts, while I sit in my dank west-coast hole, giftless and crabby? Ok, except for the whole he's so fun to read and I'm a cranky bore part. Except for that, where's my loot?
You are one smart cookie. A Nabisco cookie. They are wonderful. Celebrate your rich. crunchy and full of lovely transfats status by buying some Nabisco cookies. They are the key to happiness in this life and the next.
-AlphaDogMa
Official Nabisco Shill
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