Consumer Panopticon

In one of the readings we did for Hull, he talked about this idea of target advertising. The idea is that companies could watch what you buy and target you by sending you mail and advertisements for upcoming sales. This idea seems great but it has its disadvantages. First off I like the idea of a company getting involved with an interested costumer. Through this companies could see who is interested in their products and target those individuals. Everyone knows how annoying it can become when you get mail and junk from companies and stores that you have no interest in. So here the main customers would have the advantage in what the store or company was trying to sell. The disadvantage is the main idea of privacy. I myself wouldn’t want someone looking over my back looking at everything I buy, not that I have anything to hide with my purchases. But it’s just this idea of having privacy and buying what you want, when you want. If I buy a couple of things from one company, it doesn’t mean that I want to be on their most frequent shoppers list. People just want the freedom to buy what they want when they want or need it. If this idea of target advertising could be revised I would much rather consider it, but it just seems like all the privacy that exists is thrown out and companies are choosing what to buy for you.