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Robot to robot marketing

A couple of Stay Frees ago, we interviewed a man who creates robots for corporate marketing. These days, robot man has a lot of company. Several firms have sprouted up with hi-tech creatures designed to sell things to consumers, whether by cuddling with them, chatting them up, modeling clothes, or working as animated billboards. A Japanese company has even introduced in-store mannequins that do doubletime as spies.

Of course, we've known for some time that robots work for Fortune 500 companies. Usually, they're placed in public relations departments, where they churn out press releases and respond to journalist queries about the side effects of Vioxx or Philip Morris' (Altria's) charitable efforts.

But the neobots are on the frontlines, interacting with "end users." And they are only the beginning. The ultimate goal of sellers is not only to turn marketers into robots but consumers as well. This is the fantasy behind neuromarketing. By studying the human brain, corporations hope to uncover reliable methods for making us buy what they want us to buy.

Instead, what they really ought to do is build consumer robots specifically designed to interact with with the advertising robots, sparing humanity the burden... a win-win situation!