Ever Wonder Why Watches are Set to 10:10 in Ads??

What was one point in history the only way you could tell time and use for a purpose, now the watch has become more of a fashion accessory than anything else. After the invention of cell phones that have a clock available with the touch of a button, people have lost interest in buying a watch for the purpose of actually telling time.

Personally, I am one of those people who have watches for the sole purpose of wearing it as an accessory. Even if my phone is dead, I will still forget that I have a watch right on my wrist with the exact time on it. However, if you are looking at an actual watch, some of you may have noticed that almost of all of the old school analog wristwatches are ALWAYS photographed and pictured in advertisements with the time of 10:10.

Does this time have a special meaning or history? Nope! This is done purely for aesthetics. For what reason, you ask? Well, the manufacturer’s logo is typically right under the 12 o’clock position (e.g. Michael Kors, Fossil, DKNY, Gucci, etc.).

Strategically setting the watch hands to freeze at the 10 and 2 points makes sure that the hand will not be in the way of the logo. Furthermore, those exact locations even out the logo proportionally and focus the buyer’s eyes right in the center toward the actual logo.

I have heard rumors that the watch is set to 10:10 because that is the time that President Lincoln was shot and killed, however it is an old trick that is done all for advertising!

It’s really interesting that this tactic has been used since watches first came out on the market and is still a valid tactic to this day.

Although all watches for the most part look the same except for color, material and price, the manufacturers of these watches need to show off what makes the watch unique, which is the brand and logo. Placing this at the center of the watch makes it easier for people to zoom in on who is selling the watch and because of this, it sticks in people’s minds and they remember that the logo was the center image of the entire ad.

Did any of you ever notice this? Do you think it’s an effective and smart idea? Have you ever wondered why it was always set at 10:10? Do any of you use watches to actually read time, or is it more of a fashion statement like it is for me?

Yeezus Makes A Risky Move

 

For years, Kanye West has been a partner with one of the most successful shoe companies in the world: Nike. At first, in his career, he started off as only a hip-hop artists and nothing more. But more and more, he wanted to show off his passion for fashion and design. He has been partners with Nike for years, but there have been rumors for a long time that he cut ties with Nike for good. This weekend on his Yeezus Tour in New York, Kanye confirmed the controversial and shocking news that he did in fact drop a deal with Nike.

It was a very surprising announcement because he spoke strong feelings against Nike, which implies that Mr. West ended his relationship with Nike in a bad way. He even spoke against Nike CEO Mark Parker and said kept repeating that Nike would not let him be himself or express himself the way he wanted to in a creative way.

Kanye always complains and rants about things, but when he was talking about why he left Nike, he also confirmed that not only is he ditching the brand, but he signed up with Adidas, which is Nike’s main competition. In between songs, Kanye said ““The old me, without a daughter, would have taken the Nike deal because I just love Nikes so much. But the new me, with a daughter, takes the Adidas deal because I have royalties and I have to provide for my family.”

His main reason for leaving Nike is to better provide for his family and better express his freedom of creativity. I love Kanye and do think that he is a big icon for fashion worldwide, but I do think it is ridiculous that part of his decision to leave Nike was to better support his family. This is crazy to me because Forbes recently just marked Kanye as being worth $100 million dollars.

I loved all of the shoes that Kanye made with Nike called the Yeezy’s and I am worried that the shoes he makes with Adidas will be uglier in comparison to the Yeezy’s. Yet his other reason for leaving was because he did not like that Nike did not give him freedom to design. However, this makes sense because Nike is a shoe for athletes and professional fitness people, not a purely fashion shoe. I think that Nike and Kanye just had different visions for what they wanted in a shoe, so maybe switching to Adidas will be a better match. Even through countless Kanye meltdowns… I STILL LOVE KANYE.

 

Related articles

• Kanye Officially Leaves Nike, Joins Adidas. (urbanhash.co)
• Bye Bye, Red Octobers! Kanye West May Be Severing Ties With Nike For Adidas (DETAILS) (earz2dastreetz.wordpress.com)
• Kanye West Announces Sneaker Deal With adidas (slamonline.com)

Your Recycling Bin is Stalking You

               People think it’s creepy when the internet monitors how much you google something, but in London they have it way creepier! Recycling bins in London are monitoring the phones of people who pass by, so that advertisers can target messages at people whom the bin recognizes.

The company, Renew, has installed 100 recycling bins with digital screens around London before the 2012 Olympics. Advertisers can buy space in the internet-connected bins and get the city 5% of the airtime display to public information. The bins also have technology that scans the smartphones of people who are walking by.

The idea is to bring internet tracking cookies into the real world. The bins keep track of a unique identification number (known as a MAC address) for any nearby phones and other devices that have Wi-Fi turned on. That allows Renew to be able to tell if the person walking by is the same from yesterday and the specific route down the street…. It even records HOW FAST the person is walking!

            For example, if a coffee company wants to win over customers from another rival, they can buy the bins and track if you are a loyal customer and come often and then tailor the ads on the bins accordingly.

This kind of personalized advertising, according to the company, does not invade anyone’s privacy. London is the most heavily surveillanced city in the world and so this is considered legal in the country.

The company wants to expand this new technology to all of the recycling bins in huge cities and Dubai and New York City.

There is a London bar that Renew wants to install five tracking devices in: one by the entrance, one on the roof, one near the cash register and 2 in the bathrooms. This way the bar could know each person’s gender (from the bathroom trackers), how long they stay (dwell time).

The bins track almost a million people every single day who are walking from work, home and restaurants.

There is a way to avoid your phone being tracked, and this is by turning off the Wi-Fi on the device or filling out a privacy form online. The woman who is in charge of the recycling bin company said, “the chances are, if we don’t see you on the first, second, or third day, we’ll eventually capture you…we just need you to have it on once.”

Personally, this freaks me out and I do not want anyone tracking me walking down the street. I think that we need to form together as citizens and put our phones on airplane mode when we are in the streets!

Before we only had to watch out for humans stalking us and staring us down when walking in the streets of the city, but now we have to worry about recycling bins? This is crazy!