Advertising is everywhere – but that’s nothing new

If you were one of the approximately one gazillion Australians who ordered food from Uber Eats this past week, you may have noticed the company is now serving up video commercials on its post-checkout page, the screen where you monitor the status of your order. 

Now, instead of furiously tracking some guy on a bike as he weaves his way through a virtual map of your surrounding streets – furrowing your brow as the little bike icon pauses too long at some corner, secretly thinking, “I bet he’s eating some of my chips” – you can instead watch a trailer for a new Stan series, or learn the answer to the eternal question: What’s in the box with the dots?

It’s a smart idea, and an inevitable one. After all, there is nowhere left that is safe from advertising. There’s certainly no corner of the internet that is free from banner ads or sponsored links, no app that isn’t teeming with promotional opportunities, no street  — real or in Fortnite — that we can safely walk down without being prompted to just do it. Mick Jagger saw a red door and wanted to paint it black. Advertisers see a red door, and think of integration opportunities with Red Door Perfume.