I’m actually in the midst of making an entry right now, but I had to say something about this. I’m currently using the Opera webbrowser, which uses built-in banner advertising to generate revenue to keep the software free. I can live with that, as Opera is a very good web browser (and when I have the money, I can purchase it to get rid of the banner), but the banner I’m currently getting is really annoying me.
Rather than car, credit, or casino ads, I’m currently getting a banner that starts with a picture of the American flag. The next frame says, “Own a piece of history…”, and the third frame offers, “Own a plaque made with the metal from the World Trade Center”. It then closes with, “WE WILL NEVER FORGET”.
Part of me knew that there would be people capitalizing on the tragedy as fast as they could — and, true to form, postcards featuring the WTC became hot items within hours after the attacks — but this one just makes my skin crawl. Personally, I think stooping to this level of crass commercialism and exploitation is just horrendous.
Guess I wouldn’t make it in the advertising world, huh?
Incidentally, this is the page that you get when you click on the banner, just in case you’re curious enough to check.