I have an issue with being held captive and being advertised to. A big issue.
If you haven’t experienced this trend of advertising at the pump, consider yourself lucky.
Here’s the rundown on this evil advertising technique:
1. You pull into your local filling station. (In my case an ESSO near work)
2. You start pumping at the self serve pump (because when was the last time you saw a full serve?)
3. A video screen and audio system jump to life, innondating you with the latest and greatest in obnoxious advertisements. Products you can of course by at your local ESSO station.
4. You continue to listen to these looped advertisements during the duration of your fill. Of course, you can now no longer leave the pump pumping and utilize the auto shut off feature of the pump. You know the one we all grew up with that allowed you to wash your windows while the tank filled. No, these have conveniently been taken away due to “safety issues”. Call me a conspiracy freak, but I find this highly suspect. But even if there are legitimate concerns over safety, I still have issue with people taking advantage of the fact that I am forced to stand in one spot for a few minutes and take it upon themselves to force adverts down my throat.
5. Don’t look for the mute button. There is no mute. No shut off at all short of finishing your transaction.
I have issue with this. I like to have a choice, but it seems that my only choice in this situation is to avoid Esso, as I have not seen this method used by other retailers at this time. But I suppose it’s just a matter of time….
They were talking about this on NPR a few weeks back. Apparently this is being done because, now that you can pay at the pump with your credit card, people aren’t going into the convenience store which is where the stations make most of their profit. It may be annoying, but studies show it works.
Incidentally, we have yet to get any of those video screens in Tallahassee (that I’m aware of) but our auto shut-off levers have still been taken away.
Makes sense I suppose from a retailer point of view.
But it drives me nuts from a consumer point of view.
I prefer choice.
Don’t gas up at Esso so can’t say if they have that here. So far Zhers where we do gas up does not. As for the auto shut off that is one thing I never used. Always like to have full control of a volatile substance being pumped into my vehicle.