I’ve endured many passes through airport security, but it never crossed my mind to put advertising on the platic bins. According to today’s Minneapolis Star Tribune, Newest Ad Spot to Try Men’s Soles, there are two companies who did think of it, and they're competing for the opportunity to bring this new media to the Twin Cities.

One of the companies, SecurityPoint Media, thinks they "create a very nice environment." They have a patented system to put advertising in the bins we use to pass our laptops and penny loafers through those scary X-ray machines. There’s no doubt that unlike many other interruptive out-of-home advertising spaces, this media is pretty hard to ignore. The impressions will be solid, and it’s very measurable. That’s good right? But how do people feel when they are being rushed through an airport security line? Whose brands will benefit from an association with waiting in a long line, enduring the stares of uniformed guards while putting your shoes through an X-ray machine and being frisked or scanned with an electrified wand? When I go through these lines I’m usually anxious and annoyed. And I can’t help thinking about 9/11, the “shoe bomber” or when the next “shoe will drop” so to speak.

It reminds me of the movie Clockwork Orange, where Alex, the main character, is forced to watch horrible and violent movies while listening to Beethoven’s 9th. Then every time he hears the music he becomes sick to his stomach. I don’t think General Mills is going to want put Cherrios in the bin. I can’t see Stapes putting their Easy Button in this space. And it’s surely not the place to think about a Target.

But there might be some brands that would fit well into this emotional context. Prozac perhaps. I’d might recommend it to a video conferencing client. Maybe Greyhound and Amtrak should look into it.
-Jeff