Selling tales

This evening, whilst looking at Facebook, I came across a 'Suggested Post' in my timeline. It was for a job. In a hotel. In Cumbria. I'm not currently looking for a new job, I don't live anywhere near Barrow, and I have no experience of working in the hospitality industry. So the idea of this post being in any way an actual suggestion is, quite frankly, ludicrous.

In these technologically advanced times, advertising (because no matter what you call it, that's what it is) has got more sophisticated and creative. When Sky Atlantic launched the most recent series of 'Mad Men', the first ad break consisted of adverts from the 1950s. The final episode of the first series of the excellent French spooky drama 'The Returned' on Channel 4 featured an ad break where all the adverts had French subtitles. Touches like this show that advertisers and marketeers know what they're doing - we are constantly being targeted by companies who want us to wear, buy, eat their stuff.

And this is my problem. There is this need by companies to appear to be tailoring things, finding the right demographic. Now I have no objection to any company trying to sell me stuff I might actually want, nor do I object to people just trying to sell to anyone. What really annoys me is people telling me they've thought about what I'm interested in, when they clearly haven't. Why spend thousands of pounds finding out what I like, and then disregarding that information? If you're going to bother, do it properly.

Ooh a recommendation! You think I might like this particular book because I bought a book by the same author a while ago. That's really nice, but I paid for it to be gift wrapped and had it delivered to a different address...which would suggest that the book wasn't actually for me (yes Mr Evil Amazon, I'm talking about you).

My husband and I have just bought a flat. Registering with estate agents is a case in point. They ask you questions: how many bedrooms, what's your maximum budget, what area are you looking at? They then send you alerts full of amazing properties that don't match the criteria. There is one agency in particular that send texts with my name inserted, clearly presuming that I'm stupid enough to think that I really am the only person they want to sell a flat to.
Do you know what? Just send me everything, I can filter it myself.

There is apparently a company that has come up with an algorithm  that profiles you by analysing your Facebook 'Likes'. That's all very clever, but just reading my posts over the last few months would probably build a more accurate profile...

...which brings me back to this 'Suggested Post' nonsense. Suggested by and for whom? Not me.
Companies are paying for their products to be presented to me in the hope that I will buy them. That's ok. If I like what I see, I might buy something. If I don't, I won't. You have all this information about me and yet you choose not to use it. That's up to you, but don't pretend you have me in mind. You don't. Don't pretend that my buying habits mean I'm your target. I'm not. And please, for the love of god, call a spade a spade. It is NOT a suggestion. It's advertising.