Can You Hear Me Now?
Posted by meredith on 12-04-2008
Do you remember the controversy a while back when British shopkeepers started using a “teen repellent” to deter loiterers with an unbearable, piercing sound audible only to those under the age of 20? Well, that technology is back. Only this time it’s in the hands of the younguns. Or, at least, it will be if the folks at Fanta are successful with their latest campaign.
Over in the UK the Coca-Cola owned soft-drink brand is launching a mobile app that uses the same high-pitched frequencies issued by the so-called “Mosquito,” only in this application the sounds are supposed to create a teen language with wolf whistles,”pssts,” and warnings that are tagged to words or phrases such as “cool,” “uncool” and “”let’s get out of here.” An interesting idea, though not entirely original. It seems that text messaging already serves this very purpose by providing teens with a cloak of privacy that they can maintain even in the presence of adults (what was that scene in a recent film where the daughter is texting a friend sitting next to her in the backseat?) At the same time, it’s nice to see that this unnecessarily hostile technology is being appropriated for the benefit of its former targets.
Categorized under: Mobile, Youth Marketing