SMH story

I can only wonder if soon we won't have any part of our lives that isn't invaded with advertising. I know supermarkets are full of it but to have actual targeted ads flashing at me when I walk into a certain aisle just seems over the top.

I find it pretty easy to just "turn off" offensive and unwanted ads to the point where they barely register with me. The Internet is great practice for that. And if that doesn't work and the trolley advertising really starts to bug me, I'll just tape a piece of paper over the display and crank up my iPod.

No thank you very much! That is horrid, I guess for me it would be "Check to see what is at its sell-by date".

I think I'd know just where to put my bag: right in front of that screen!

This isn't so bad. At least you aren't endangering lives while watching that screen like people do with the cars that have televisions in the front seat.

it would certainly be illegal in the UK too I am sure.

I suspect that he means dashboard, they are certainly not illegal as they are being sold by every car type shop in Australia.

Back on topic I think the screen fastened to the shopping trolley is a pretty annoying idea. I wonder how many of the screens will be pinched as well, judging by the number of people that use a shopping trolley to transport groceries back to their cars I would say a lot. Policing the shopping trolleys would become a headache for larger shops.

I can see certain advantages to the trolley screens. For example, if I put a can of pears in my cart, then the screen shows me a competitor's brand that is being offered cheaper, I would definitely check the other brand, perhaps buying it instead of the first.

Having said that, overall I'm not too keen on the idea. The cost of installation, maintenance and replacement of stolen or damaged screens will be passed onto us, the consumer. So the little that we save by being shown lower prices on the screen is more than offset by the cost we will pay for this 'convenience'.

I'm more attracted to grocery stores that keep their consumer prices down by various means. I certainly don't mind buying a can of pears that is shelved still in the cardboard box. Stores that offer boxes to pack your groceries in, rather than non-degradable plastic bags are thinking along the right lines, as are the ones that encourage you to bring in your own bags, and charge for their bags. It all helps to keep costs down for the consumer, as well as being more ecological for the landfill sites.

One of my local grocery stores decided it would be a nice idea for their customers to be able to check prices of their goods and attached to the handle of each cart a scanner type thingy. They lasted less than 6 months. People didn't use them, they got damaged, got in the way of children sitting in the cart seats, just a bad (and costly) idea they had. I certainly never used it - the prices were on the shelving! I would not like to see anything like them return.

That sounds good in theory, but I'm a "Oh, look, they have this brand on sale, I'll put the other stuff I've already picked up back" type of shopper, and I could see it backfiring badly for me.

I'm all in favour of self checkouts in general, though - I am faster and more efficient than most cashiers, and can pack my bags more sensibly. Would be nice if the lessened cost were passed on to us, but somehow I bet it's not.....

"I am faster and more efficient than most cashiers"

ugh! This should go in the pet peeves thread but I am so with you. Honestly, do I really have to ask the checkout chicks NOT to put the ratsack in with food? Or tell them what sort of vegetable that produce is?

Advertising will never stop unless humans give up love of material things and live more simply. If that happens, like it ever will (sarcasm), advertisers would start losing money and it wouldn't make sense to advertise.

You would still need advertising to let people know of anything new.