In December we wrote about face recognition technology in advertising and mused about future ads that will know who they’re talking to and whether they’re being looked at. In Britain this week, Slam’s musings become reality. A 20 second interactive ad that uses face recognition technology to determine the gender of the person looking at it and vary its content accordingly is about to be launched.
The £30 000 advert is commissioned by the children’s charity Plan UK as part of it’s “Because I’m a Girl” campaign and will be unveiled on a bus stop on Oxford Street in London’s West End this Wednesday. Targeting women only, the advert will use a high-definition camera to scan passers by and guess their gender with an accuracy of 90%. If males view the advert it will display a message directing him to the charity website.
“We’re not giving men and boys the choice to see the full ad on this occasion – so they get a glimpse of what it’s like to have basic choices taken away,” said Marie Staunton, Plan UK’s chief executive (From The Independent).
Although the plunge into innovative advertising is commendable, there are still many privacy issues around face recognition technology that have yet to be resolved. Neil Chapman, the head of the creative team at Clear Channel UK, the company who designed the ad, stressed his advert would not record or save any of the data it detects. Be that as it may, with data violation in the headlines on an almost daily basis, we feel this advert is destined to receive mixed reviews.
Technology, however enticing, should only ever be used when it makes sense and supports the point you’re trying to make: it should be a means to an end rather than the end itself. In this instance we’re not convinced the campaign hasn’t been developed to use the technology rather than vice versa.
There is bound to be a fair share of trial and error with face recognition software. One this is certain, we are sure to see much more of this sort of advertising in the very near future – and they are sure to see us!